Of Love and Vampires
by Lachenna
Summary: Lenalee is putting herself through college working as a waitress. And she's working on a side project: taking down the mob family known as the Noah. A dangerous and secretive mission as the Noah are all vampires. What happens when a mysterious white haired teenager suddenly shows up in her life? AllenxLenalee, one-sided AlmaxKanda. *On Hiatus*
1. Lenalee

Waitressing wasn't exactly a glamorous job, but it was putting me through college. And I enjoyed it ... most days. It was a family friendly restaurant and I liked kids. That also meant that aside from the short skirts, which I was allowed to wear shorts under, the uniform was fairly conservative. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Bella Ragazza Ristorante. Best Italian food in the city. Which wasn't a lie. The restaurant had great decor, the staff was friendly, and the food was to die for. Jerry, the head chef, was one of the nicest people you'd ever meet, and he was a spectacular chef. Even if it was a little odd to find an Indian chef with pink dreadlocks in an Italian restaurant. Though one server was a Chinese American girl with green hair (myself, just in case you're wondering), and another was a mousy little man who wore thick glasses and never took off his headphones, so the whole place was a little odd. Bella Ragazza did follow one major cliché though: it was a front for the mob.

The Noah family was your classic cliché mob family. They kept the back private room on permanent reserve and conducted their business there. The Earl, or Adam as he was called by those close to him, was the typical overweight mob boss. Tyki, Sherril, Lulubell, Road, and Wisley made up the upper ranks of the family; the Earl called them his nieces and nephews. The Earl's right hand man, Neah, had been killed two years ago and his spot was still vacant. And until his arrest last month, Skinn Bolic had been the family's top enforcer.

They were into all the usual mob things: drug dealing, blackmailing, bribery, money laundering, contract killings. All told, they were very dangerous criminals.

And they were all vampires. (Not everyone in the organization obviously, but those eight definitely were.)

Now before you think I'm crazy, you should know that everyone knows vampires exist. It's become common knowledge in the last fifty years that the undead walk among us. Most still hide what they are, and keep to themselves, but they're a part of society. They live and work among us. And save for a few bad seeds, they play by the rules and we coexist.

Normally learning someone's a vampire isn't a big deal. It's comparable to learning someone's gay. It offends you at first, but then you realize they're the same person they always were and things go back to normal.

Or so I've been told. I don't actually know any vampires personally. And I don't really care to get to know any. Not after the way my parents were brutally murdered when I was a child.

But finding out a _criminal_ is a vampire? That's terrifying. Like learning there really is a monster under your bed. Especially when that criminal is a mobster like the Noah.

And how do I know all this? The Earl took a particular liking to me the first time I waited on them. After that, I became the family's personal waitress. Whenever I worked a shift, in addition to my other tables I had to wait on the Noah family. And after a year I had gained a lot of information. Especially once I discovered that vampire bit. It made everything all the more dangerous, but that wasn't going to stop me from doing everything I could to bring them down.

I've gotten ahead of myself again. I'm Lenalee Lee, twenty one year old college student. Decent grades, decent job, with one psychotic older brother who is fortunately in another country. I don't have many friends, just coworkers and classmates, but that's all I have time for, so it's never bothered me.

.x.x.

Wednesday started out awful and kept going downhill. I spilled my morning coffee down the front of my favorite shirt, a blouse Komui had bought for me in China. And I was already running late, so I couldn't go home and change. Professor Epstein gave a pop quiz that I was completely unprepared for, and Professor Martin assigned a massive research paper. Then to top it all off, I got mugged on my way home.

The guy came out of nowhere and pointed a gun in my face. Not wanting any trouble, I handed over my purse and book bag like he demanded. Then he pistol whipped me and everything went black.

...

"Miss? Are you alright, Miss?" Someone was shaking my shoulder.

I blinked my eyes slowly open and all I saw was white. In my groggy state, it took me a second to realize that the source of the voice was also the source of the white. In this case: a young man with snow white hair. "Miss?"

"What happened?" My throat felt dry.

"You got hit in the head. I chased the guy off before he could do anything else. He got away, but I managed to get your bags back." The man kneeling above me couldn't have been more than eighteen. He was also as thin as a rake. I couldn't picture him fighting off anyone.

"Thanks." I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Are you feeling ok? I bandaged a gash on your forehead. It seemed pretty bad. You should probably get it looked at." All I really wanted right then was for him to shut up.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. I'll be fine." My headache said otherwise. I forced myself to my feet, and tried not to sway.

The teen grabbed my upper arms rather forcibly. "You're not fine. You can barely stand up. You've probably got a concussion."

I tried to protest, but everything started spinning. I felt him lead me down the street. "My car's just up ahead. Let me drive you to the hospital."

I blacked out again when we reached his car. I didn't catch what it looked like, and for all I knew it was an unmarked white van. I was honestly surprised that I woke up in a hospital. The relief died a little when I saw the white haired boy in the chair next to the bed.

"They put three stitches in your forehead." He spoke without looking up from his book. "You've got a concussion, but it's minor, so they won't try to keep you overnight. There's a cop outside, waiting to take your statement about the mugging."

"Anything else?" I was annoyed.

"You've got five missed calls from someone named..." He pulled my phone out of my purse and clicked it on. "Reever."

I panicked and tried to sit up. "Oh god. What time is it?"

He was out of the chair in an instant, pushing me back down. "It's almost four thirty. You've been out for a little over two hours."

"Four thirty? Crap! My shift started an hour ago!" I struggled against him, but he was surprisingly strong for how skinny he was.

"Ah. That explains why he said he'd get someone to cover for you." I blinked. Had the boy always had that slightly British accent?

Then what he'd said clicked. "You answered my phone?!"

"He called five times in twenty minutes. I figured it was important enough that you wouldn't mind." He sat back down and picked the book back up. "He seemed pretty upset that you had gotten hurt. More than a boss would be. Who is he to you?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but he's a friend of my brother." Komui would have a heart attack if he learned I was injured. No, that wasn't the real problem. The real problem was... "Oh shit. If Reever calls my brother, you are so dead."

"Huh?" The white haired teen looked five years younger when he was confused.

"A strange boy answered my cell phone. Komui's gonna go ballistic." I groaned and buried my head in my hands. "He'll probably try to jump on the next plane out here."

"I feel like I'm missing something. Why would your brother care that I answered your cell phone?"

"Komui's ridiculously overprotective of me when it comes to boys."

"So much so that he'd fly out here just because of one phone call? That's scary."

He smiled at me and that's when I noticed the scar. There was a red line running down the left side of his face. It started as an upside down star on his forehead, then it ran through his eyelid down to his chin. I wondered how I hadn't noticed it before.

He caught me staring. He looked away and covered the scar with his gloved left hand. "I was in car accident a couple years ago."

"Oh." That's all I could think of to say.

His hand dropped and he smiled brightly. Then he stood from the chair. "I should go. Goodbye, Miss Lenalee."

I vaguely wondered how he knew my name, but then I recalled that he'd clearly gone through my purse. I stopped him before he reached the door. "Wait."

"Yes?"

"What's your name?" I don't know why it mattered. I was never going to see the guy again.

"Allen. Allen Walker." He gave me a bright smile and then he was gone.

The nurse came in with the cop after Allen left. They asked me all kinds of questions about the mugging and the concussion. It was all rather exhausting.

But, like Allen said, they didn't keep me overnight. I called Reever for a ride home. Normally I wouldn't have bothered him at work, but taking the bus after suffering a concussion didn't seem like a good idea. Much like I had felt earlier, he seemed relieved that I was actually at the hospital.

Reever made sure I made it home. He even walked me to the door. Then he gave me the next day off. I protested, but he said Komui would kill him if he didn't. Which was probably true.

.x.x.

Thursday was long. Really long. I wasn't used to having free time. I didn't have classes on Thursday, and without work to go to, I had nothing to do. Except homework. And daydream about a certain white haired British teenager.

I wasn't into younger guys. Sure, he wasn't that much younger, but I was a senior in college; a senior in high school was too young for me. So it couldn't be attraction. Even if he did seem mature for his age. Even if British accents were hot. It was probably just a reaction to him saving me.

I couldn't help being curious about him. Wondering who he was and where he came from. In my experience teenage boys, especially ones as scrawny as Allen, didn't just jump into the middle of a fight. He was a mystery.

In my paranoia, I went through my bag. Nothing was missing. I did find the book he'd been reading though. And I was surprised to find that it was mine. He'd been reading my book. I tossed the book away in a huff, but when it hit the ground, something fell out of it. A note.

 _"This is one of my favorite books. I hope you're enjoying it. -Allen"_

I don't know what I was expecting, but that certainly wasn't it. I picked the book back up and looked it over. I had only read a few chapters. It was some fiction thing the guy at the bookstore had recommended. The redhead had clearly been flirting with me, but the book looked interesting, so I bought it.

My homework was forgotten. I had a clue. It was a sucky clue, but it was a clue all the same. If Allen liked the book then maybe I would learn something about him from reading it.

So I spent the rest of the day reading. It was a good book. It didn't help me figure out anything about Allen though. Which was frustrating. And stupid.

The whole thing was stupid. I was stupid. Stupid for thinking that a book could tell me something about Allen. Stupid for still thinking about Allen. Because, really, what was the point of still thinking about someone I knew nothing about and would never see again.

.x.x.

Two weeks passed and I had forgotten all about Allen. I returned to my routine.

It was Friday night. A busy time at Bella Ragazza. And to top it off, the Noah family was having some sort of family wide meeting. I barely had time to think as I bustled about the restaurant.

The Noah were rowdy. From what I could gather, their new enforcer was finally coming to a meeting. They'd been talking about him for weeks; they all thought he'd be able to take Skinn's former spot as top enforcer. It was something new to worry about.

That worry was probably why I didn't see the guy that bumped into me and made me drop a tray full of glasses.

Fortunately, we were away from the majority of customers so it didn't cause a scene. Unfortunately, all of the glasses shattered when they hit the ground. The guy huffed, cussing at me as he walked away.

I ignored him and knelt down to pick up the broken glass. I noticed a pair of black knee high boots approaching, but I didn't give them much thought. Even when the owner stopped in front of me.

"That looks dangerous. Let me help you." I froze at the sound of the voice and its slightly British accent.

I gaped at Allen as he knelt down and started picking up broken glass. He smiled at me. "It's good to see you're feeling better."

"Thanks." I snapped myself out of my stupor and worked with him to pick up the glass. "What are you doing here?"

He gave a little laugh. "Some family thing. Out of town cousins came for a visit, so we all had to get together. My uncle's kind of crazy when it comes to family."

That made me smile. "I bet my brother would make your uncle look sane."

Allen smiled at the joke. "Probably best to keep the psychos away from each other, eh?" Then he laughed. "Unless that was an invitation to meet your family, in which case I'd say we don't know each other well enough for that yet."

I blushed at the implication. And dropped the piece of glass I was holding. Everything went slow motion as I watched it slice across Allen's right hand. "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

He smiled reassuringly as I grabbed his hand to get a closer look. "I'm fine. It missed."

"Are you sure? I could have sworn that it-" I inspected the back of his hand. There was no blood. No gash. Not even a scratch. "Huh. I guess you're right."

I let go of his hand and focused on the last of the glass shards. That was really strange. I knew that he'd been cut by that glass. Yet there wasn't a mark on him. Something weird was going on.

...Why was I so paranoid when it came to that boy?!

"That's the last of it." Allen wiped his hands on his jeans as he stood up. "I should go join my family."

"Thanks for the help."

"No problem." He smiled. "See you later, Lenalee."

I watched him walk off. He ushered a wandering child back to his parents just before the boy would have knocked into a waiter carrying a tray full of food.

I laughed at myself for being ridiculous. Allen was a nice guy. I had no reason to be suspicious of him.

.x.x.

After that night, I started seeing Allen around Bella Ragazza all the time. And he was everywhere. Gossiping with Jerry in the kitchen, joking with Reever in his office. Everyone knew him and everyone loved him.

I began to look forward to work. And not just for the chance to see Allen. Ever since he had shown up, I had started growing closer to my coworkers.

I once found Allen playing chess with Johnny in the staff room. Johnny, who kept to himself and never spoke about anything except work, was laughing and smiling. Because of Allen.

Part of me thought that he might have been hanging around to see me. But whenever I tried to talk to him, he always brushed me off and said he had to get back to his family.

I should have put it together. But no, I wouldn't see it until it smacked me in the face.

.x.x.

It was a typical Thursday afternoon. The restaurant was quiet, but waiting on the Noah kept me busy. Not that I had to do much other than keep their drinks full.

They were especially uptight that day. Tyki hadn't attempted to grab my ass. Road wasn't joking around or trying to make the others do her homework. Something was going on.

Like always, I listened to them talk whenever I was in the room. Either they didn't think I could break their code, or they didn't care that I could hear them. It was the usual mob stuff, money and drugs, things I filed away for later. But I did learn why they were so edgy: that new enforcer was out teaching a rival gang a lesson. It was his final test; if he succeeded, he'd officially have Skinn's old position.

I was curious about him, he'd been around for a couple weeks, but I'd never actually seen him. This was my experiment after all. It was my, anonymous, information that led to Skinn's arrest. The guy was a monster; he needed to be taken off the streets. And I wanted to see what would happen, get a better idea of how the organization worked. And what I learned was that the Earl considered people to be replaceable. So I was curious about the new guy. If he was as much of a monster as Skinn was then I might have actually done more harm than good.

The dinner rush started, so I was forced to stay away for a time. When I returned to refresh their drinks, the atmosphere had changed. It was back to carefree and laid back. The new guy had returned victorious and now they were celebrating. I refilled their water glasses, surreptitiously looking for the new guy.

What I saw made my heart stop. I caught a glimpse of white in Skinn's usual spot. I'd recognize that white hair anywhere. A second glance and I caught sight of the scar on his face. There was no denying who he was.

He smiled sheepishly when he saw I'd noticed him. The Earl called for a bottle of champagne. I went to fetch it immediately, suddenly needing some air.

Allen. Kind, sweet, innocent Allen, was an enforcer for the Noah.

The rest of the night was a blur. I honestly don't remember what else happened. Until I found myself sitting in front of my locker in the staff room at the end of the night.

I gathered my stuff and walked out to my car, only to run into Allen. He was sitting on the trunk of my car. Waiting for me. "Lenalee."

I ignored him, moving straight by him to unlock my door. He didn't let me pass. "I feel like I owe you an explanation."

I narrowed my eyes at the teenager in front of me. "Why? It's not like we actually know each other."

We clearly didn't. The guy worked for the mob! As an enforcer. That meant he'd killed people. Yet, somehow, he had convinced everyone that he was a nice guy.

He seemed sad that I was angry. "I still think you should know."

I sighed and leaned back against the car. I didn't want to hear whatever crappy excuse he was going to give me. But maybe if I listened I could get this over with. "Then explain it."

Allen leaned on the car next to me and stared at the stars. I looked up too. I didn't want to see him while he lied to me. He was silent for a while. "I don't have a choice."

What was that supposed to mean?

As if reading my thoughts, he answered my question. "If I tried to leave they'd hunt me down and kill me." He sighed. "And even worse, whoever they got to replace me would probably be as much of a monster as the guy I replaced."

Allen sighed again. This one made him sound a lot older than eighteen. "If I'm going to be stuck with them I can at least make sure they're not hurting innocents."

I wasn't sure if I believed what he was saying. He could easily be playing me. But at the same time... Allen hadn't denied being involved with them, which was what I had expected him to do.

To break the silence, I asked the first question I could think of. "Why'd you get involved with them in the first place?"

"They're family." He shrugged.

The way he said it, it didn't sound like the mob cliché. "Wait. You mean you're actually related to them?!"

"Related to people related to them. Yes."

We both stared at the sky for some time. I don't think either of us could think of anything to say.

The silence was broken by Allen's cell phone ringtone. He frowned at the caller ID then shoved it back in his pocket. "Are we alright?"

"I don't know." And I honestly didn't.

"Oh. Umm..."

"Just give me some time, ok?" I needed to think.

"Oh. Ok." He walked off.

I climbed into the car and headed home. I didn't look back.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	2. Allen

If I didn't know better, I would have sworn Alma was psychic. There I was, being rejected by the girl of my dreams, _before_ I even got the chance to ask her out, and he calls to invite me out for drinks.

And if he ever found out that I skipped out on guys' night out because of a _girl_ , I would never hear the end of it. So however miserable I may have been, I had to go. And in all honesty, I could certainly use a drink.

Alma was waiting for me outside the bar. His purple hair was spiked up and he was wearing that ridiculous cape. Together with his usual tight shirt and black leather pants, he looked exactly like what he was: a vampire.

I always felt instantly better when Alma was around. He had one of those infectiously optimistic personalities. "Yo! Allen! Hurry up! Everyone else is already here!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "You didn't have to wait you know. You picked a place where the bouncer knows me."

"Carlo left last week." Alma's smirk made me want to smack him. "Which means..."

I groaned. Alma grabbed my shoulder and hauled me into the alley. Time to see what craziness he had concocted this time.

A bag appeared from under a dumpster. That was always the first step: changing clothes. Alma thought my sense of style was lacking. Opening the bag with trepidation, I was surprised to find a black leather jacket and a pair of dark jeans. Alma clearly hadn't been anywhere near these clothes. "Lavi picked them out. He said you would actually kill me if I tried to make you wear the outfit I had put together."

"I don't even have to know what it was to agree with him." I went behind the dumpster and changed. I had known Alma for years. He was a nice guy, but he tended to get carried away.

"Ok, what's next?" I put my clothes in the bag and shoved it back under the dumpster.

Alma's answer was to shove his hands in my hair. I let him spike it up. So long as he didn't have scissors or dye, I trusted him with my hair.

He backed away to inspect his work. "Lose the glove."

I grimaced as I pulled the glove off my left hand and shoved it into my pocket. At least we were going to a bar; I would be able to pretend the black skin was a tattoo.

A sudden sting in my left ear snapped me out of my thoughts. I reached a hand to my ear, and found a metal pendant dangling there. "What the hell, Alma?!"

"Hmm. Lavi was right about that too." He actually sounded surprised. "You do look older with an earring."

I glared at him. He'd just pierced my ear?! "Don't give me that look, Allen. You know as well as I do that it'll heal as soon as you take it out."

He was right, but that didn't make me any less pissed at him.

One more look over from Alma. He frowned at me. "Could you at least show your fangs? You still look too human."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "That was the goal of all this? To get me to look more like a vampire? You and Lavi are morons."

Alma just laughed at me. "Trying to make you look twenty one has been hit and miss lately, so it can't hurt to try it this way."

That would have to be the one thing I hated most about living in the States. I could drink anywhere else in the world, but here I'm considered too young. Being immortally stuck at eighteen really sucked in that respect.

Alma and I waited our turn in line. He stole my wallet from my pocket and pulled out my driver's license. He snickered. "No wonder we have so much trouble getting you into bars. Your fake ID is horrible."

I snatched the card and wallet from him. "That's my _real_ ID, moron."

"Well in that case, it's time you got a fake one. No one's ever going to believe you're twenty three."

"I _am_ twenty three." I punched him in the arm.

"And if your hair was a normal color you'd look fourteen." That wasn't Alma. The voice belonged to a different vampire.

"Then I guess it's a good thing my hair's not normal." I laughed as I turned to look at the speaker. "It's good to see you Toma."

We'd reached the front of the line. Apparently, my old friend Toma was the club's new bouncer. Alma groaned overdramatically. "What a waste! All that work! For nothing!" He shook my shoulders. "How is it that you know _everyone_?!"

Toma and I laughed at his antics. While Alma pretended to collapse to the ground, Toma smiled at me. "I have to thank you, Allen. Hevlaska gave me the job on the spot when she learned that I knew you."

"Then I guess you're welcome." I kicked at Alma, but he didn't move. "I should get him inside; our friends are waiting for us. We'll have to catch up another time."

I grabbed Alma's wrists and dragged him inside. He popped to his feet once we reached the others. Krory engulfed me in a hug, while Alma tried to do the same to Kanda and promptly wound up back on the floor.

"Come on Yuu~. Can't you greet your boyfriend properly?" Everyone but Kanda laughed. Kanda was glaring daggers at Lavi. And drawing an actual dagger. Lavi did the only smart thing and ran away.

The rest of us sat down at the table. Krory looked like he stepped out of some black and white classic vampire movie. The guy could pass himself off as Dracula if he wanted to, and he'd lived long enough to make it believable too. Kanda actually had his long navy hair down for once, though I suspected that Lavi might have had something to do with his missing hair tie. For a guy who claimed to hate vampires, Kanda sure spent a lot of time around us.

"Moyashi."

"The name's Allen, Bakanda!"

He thrust a beer bottle in my face. "You're thinking too hard, Moyashi. Loosen up a little."

"Thanks?" I took the bottle and downed it in one go.

Lavi returned just in time to see the out of character act. And he proceeded to embarrass me. "Ooh, is our little Allen having girl troubles?"

How was it that the Bookman could be so clueless when it came to upsetting Kanda, yet he could read me like an open book? "Fuck off, Lavi."

"Oh my god, it's true!" Alma gasped. He grabbed my arm. "Tell us all about her!"

I ignored him and grabbed another beer from the table. I was not ready to talk about Lenalee.

Unfortunately, my friends were not going to accept that as an answer. Especially when I'd never expressed interest in anyone before. They even joked that I was turned before I hit puberty because of my lack of interest in having a relationship.

Lavi knew the story, so I would let him tell it. Though it occurred to me that if I had wanted to keep this a secret, running my mouth off to the redheaded human had been a bad idea. "He met her a little over a month ago. Wouldn't shut up about the beautiful green haired Chinese girl. Claimed she was his soulmate. Oh, and the best part?" He laughed. "She's _human_."

They all gasped in mock horror. Like they hadn't all had inter species relationships before. "Then one day, out of the blue, he just stopped. Acted like she never existed."

"What happened?" Krory was on the edge of his seat listening to Lavi.

Lavi shrugged. "He won't tell me."

They all turned to stare at me. I sighed; I wanted to keep it quiet, but at this point, things would be a lot worse if I didn't tell them. "...She works at Bella Ragazza..."

They all knew what that meant. No one needed to say it. But that didn't stop Alma. He liked stating the obvious. "She knows you as a Noah."

"Yeah." I downed another beer. After three bottles, I had yet to feel even slightly tipsy. This was one of those times where the high alcohol tolerance that came from being a vampire was really frustrating; I just wanted to forget about Lenalee for the night.

"So what happened today?" I think we were all surprised that Kanda was actually paying attention. It was no secret that he didn't give a shit about other people's problems, and he cared about _mine_ even less.

"What do you mean?" Alma was practically sitting in Kanda's lap.

He gestured at me as he pushed Alma away with more force than was necessary. "You're all talking about something he's known for weeks. The Moyashi doesn't drink like that. Ever. Something happened _today_."

I placed the empty bottle on the table and reached for another. Krory stopped me from grabbing it. "What happened, Allen?"

I sighed. "I tried to convince her that that's not who I really am. She rejected me." Krory let go of my arm and I grabbed another beer.

"You didn't tell her you're a cop, did you?" Lavi's panic was visible in everyone else's faces.

I laughed mirthlessly. "I'm not stupid, Lavi. I've been undercover for two years. I know better than to blow that over a girl."

My friends were just as invested in the case as I was. So they had just as much to lose as I did. Maybe not quite as much, since I was the one with my life on the line, but I understood their panic.

Once I managed to convince them that I hadn't screwed everything up, they relaxed and we enjoyed the rest of the evening. They teased me for keeping my crush on Lenalee a secret. Alma flirted with Kanda and danced with random girls trying to make him jealous. Kanda tried to kill Lavi a few more times. It was just what I needed after the day I'd had.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	3. The Noah

I called Komui when I got home. After everything that happened that day, I really needed to hear his voice. I couldn't tell him about Allen, there were too many things I couldn't say, but I needed to talk about it. I felt so betrayed. So I settled for telling my brother a watered down version of what had happened: I'd caught a friend lying to me and I didn't know if I could trust them again.

His advice wasn't very helpful, but I couldn't really blame him, my story was too vague. It was good to hear him go off into crazy land worrying about me. I needed the reminder that someone out there loved me.

Not that I wanted Allen to love me. The guy was barely a friend. And, after tonight, even that was up for debate.

After some hard thinking, I decided to give Allen a second chance. The boy had been nothing but kind to me. He'd even saved my life once. So if he said he had no choice then I would believe him.

We were never going to be friends though. I'd been letting myself care for him, and that would have to stop. Even if it was partially against his will, Allen was still a professional killer. I couldn't overlook that. We could hang out at the restaurant, but that was all.

Between my classes and the insanity that was Friday dinner service at one of the most popular restaurants in town, all I wanted to do was to go home and go to sleep. But like the night before, Allen was sitting on the trunk of my car.

His white hair looked gold under the orange glow of the streetlights. As usual, he was dressed more like a businessman than a high school student. The black leather jacket was new, though if it was an attempt to make himself look older, it wasn't working.

He got up as I approached. He looked nervous, like he could bolt at any second. "Lenalee. Hi. Umm..."

"Hi, Allen." Now that he was closer, I could see just how scared he was. "Are you ok?"

"Huh?" Allen blinked. "Oh. I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you that I understand. I don't blame you for not wanting to be anywhere near me."

He turned and walked away, but I stopped him by grabbing his wrist. He froze, and I did too. It had been a gut reaction. "I..."

Blushing slightly, I sighed and dropped his wrist. "That's not what I want, Allen."

And the surprised look on his face made it clear why. He may have been one of the Noah, but until I was over that stupid crush I had on him, I couldn't let him slip out of my life.

"What? But-"

"Look, I'm kinda pissed at you. You're a dangerous criminal. I know enough about the Noah to know that you've killed people to get where you are. I've chosen to believe that you were telling the truth last night. But I can't accept what you've done." I sighed and pushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear. "I don't want you gone, but we can't be friends."

Allen continued to stare at me like I had grown a second head. "But- What? You don't hate me?"

It was my turn to be confused. He thought I hated him? I felt hurt, angry, and betrayed, but hatred? My biggest problem with the whole thing was that I couldn't make myself hate him. "I don't. I know I should. But I don't."

I climbed in my car and drove away, leaving him standing dumbstruck in the middle of the parking lot.

.x.x.

I didn't know how much more I could take. Thursday and Friday had been a roller coaster, and I was exhausted in every sense of the word. And yet life wouldn't let me relax. Saturday had more surprises in store.

With Allen's promotion, things were going back to normal within the Noah family. Now that they once again had a high level enforcer, they would resume conducting business from their room at Bella Ragazza. The family's underlings, mainly business associates and people who owed them money, would once again be coming to the restaurant for meetings.

In the two months of Skinn's absence, they had done everything involving non-family members offsite, keeping potential threats away from the Earl. Which I thought was ridiculous; the vampire was at least five hundred years old, he could certainly protect himself. And then there was Allen. How was a scrawny human teenager supposed to stop a threat to a vampire?

That first Saturday I planned to watch Allen like a hawk. I was curious as to how he would behave; I had only ever seen him be kind and gentle. I wanted to know what he was like as a criminal. And I wanted to know if I had made a mistake in giving him a second chance.

As was usual, Sherril was the first of the Noah to arrive. He came in while I was still prepping the room. The tall Portuguese man scared the crap out of me. He was one of those vampires that didn't care if people knew what he was. Sherril was turned sometime in the late 1800's and still dressed like he lived in Victorian England, monocle and everything. But the truly terrifying thing about Sherril was that he had the ability to hypnotize humans into doing whatever he wanted them to do. He'd never used it on me, fortunately, but I'd seen him use it on others. Suffice it to say, Sherril was the main reason I was scared to tell anyone what I knew about the Noah.

Sherril brought his "daughter" with him. Road was actually older than he was, but physically she was only fourteen, and the two loved to play house. She was just as scary as her father, half as dangerous but twice as psychotic. Her spiky blue hair shook as she danced around the room licking a lollipop. "Danced" isn't exactly the right word though. Road was able to teleport herself pretty much wherever she wanted, and she liked to use her ability to pop up behind people and out of strange places.

Once I was finished cleaning the room, Sherril sat at the table and pulled out the notebook he was always writing in. One of these days, I would have to see what was in it.

Tyki arrived as I was leaving. He was nowhere near as uptight as his brother, wearing torn jeans and a button up shirt with most of the buttons undone. And he was _always_ smoking a cigarette. He sat in his chair and kicked his feet up onto the table. All the Noah vampires had a special power, but I had never seen Tyki's. And I really had no desire to; he was scary enough without one.

When I returned with the water glasses, Allen, Lulubell, and the Earl had arrived. Allen ignored me, which I was thankful for. Despite my resolution to not care about him anymore, I couldn't help wondering if he knew that the others were all vampires.

Like always, Lulubell wore a pantsuit, and her long blonde hair was tied back in a low ponytail. She never smiled, and only spoke when it was absolutely necessary. Someone mentioned once that she was turned at Woodstock and that the changing had inverted her personality. But that might have been a joke. Like Tyki, I had never seen her power, and I didn't want to. It was no surprise that she arrived when the Earl did, she followed him around like a shadow.

The Earl was big on theatrics. He could go from laughing and playful to beyond pissed off in the blink of an eye. His seat in the room at Bella Ragazza was situated so that his face was always in shadow. Whether it was to scare human visitors or because he actually needed the darkness, I didn't know. It was probably both.

"We have guests joining us today, Miss Lee. I trust you remember what that means." I did. It wasn't hard. "Guests", which was code for clients and underlings, meant that they would actually be ordering food.

"Do you want the usual, or will you be switching it up today?" I pulled my order pad out of my apron, ready to write down whatever he answered. I'd had their order memorized for a long time, they never changed it, but I was going to play the friendly waitress and ask anyway. The Earl liked the charade.

"The usual will be fine, Miss Lee. Thank you." And that was my cue that it was safe to leave the room. Back to the routine.

And as always, the next step in the routine was for Tyki to make a pass at me as I left. If I got too close to him, it would be an attempt to grab my ass or look up my skirt. And that was almost preferable to the lewd comments and innuendos he made when I wasn't close enough for him to touch. Fortunately, once was enough for him to get it out of his system for the day. And he really didn't mean anything by it. I'd learned early on that it was easiest to just let him hit on me.

Unfortunately, I was close enough for him to touch. I braced myself, but nothing happened. "You shouldn't do that, Tyki."

Wisley had arrived, stopping Tyki before he could grope me. Though I wasn't sure why he suddenly cared. Tyki didn't know either. "Since when do _you_ care?"

He sat down in his chair and adjusted his bandana. "I don't. But _he_ does." He gestured at Allen. "And I don't think he's someone you want to piss off."

I looked at Allen and was surprised to see a faint blush on his cheeks. Then I remembered that Wisley had the power to read minds. What had Allen been thinking about?

The Earl cackled. Road used her teleportation ability to appear on Allen's lap. He gave her a sideways glance when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Al-len~. Don't hurt Uncle Tyki. He didn't mean to touch your girlfriend. Right, Tyki~?"

 _'Girlfriend?'_ I felt my face grow hot; I knew my cheeks must have been bright red. Allen looked mortified. "Road's right, Shounen~. I never would have tried anything if I had known she was yours."

My ability to talk had failed me. They thought I was dating Allen. That or they were teasing him for wanting to. Either way, there was only one interpretation: Allen liked me. And while that certainly explained the conversations in the parking lot, it was far from what I wanted.

Before either of us could say anything, the Earl cackled again. He stroked his chin as he spoke. "My nephew and the waitress... Hmm. Interesting. That's an arrangement I could support."

 _Oh dear god. Did he just imply that he'd approve of a_ marriage _between us?!_ I left the room before I could cave to the temptation to look at Allen. Two days ago this conversation would have done a number on my heart. Today it was just plain cruel.

I went to the kitchen and gave their order to Jerry. And then I hung around and chatted a little. I was assigned exclusively to the Noah's room on Saturdays. Which meant that if I wasn't waiting on them then I had nothing to do. Normally I'd stay nearby so I could watch them, but I needed some space after what just happened.

Once I had collected myself, I returned to the room, sliding into my usual spot by the door. They knew I was there; it was my job to be there, so there wasn't any need to be stealthy. I was anyway though, it was reasonable to be scared of the Noah. Especially given what I walked in on.

The Earl was in the middle of one of his "an insult to a family member is an insult to me" rants. He somehow always managed to make the cliché speech terrifying. The poor guy he was talking to was shaking in his chair. He'd been in a few times before, but I had never caught his name, I think he ran one of the Noah family's front companies. I almost felt bad for the guy; the Earl still had another ten minutes left.

The speech was interrupted when Allen suddenly jumped from his chair and slammed the guy's head to the table. I'd been watching for something like that, but it was still shocking to actually see the white haired boy do something violent. It was also shocking that he had interrupted the Earl; the Noah considered that to be a major taboo.

Allen hissed something in the guy's ear. I couldn't hear it, but I knew the vampires could. Whatever it was, it silenced their gasps of protest. The guy started sobbing as Allen grabbed him by his greasy black hair and yanked his head backwards to a very painful looking angle. Another threat was hissed as Allen's left hand wrapped around the man's right wrist. The following snap was audible over the man's screaming.

I was mortified. The boy I knew as kind and sweet had just intentionally broken another man's arm. It was far from the most violent act I'd witnessed in that room, but it made me sick to my stomach in a way nothing else had. I was glad I couldn't see Allen's face, and that _he_ couldn't see _mine_. I wanted to run away, but curiosity kept me rooted to the spot.

The man's sobs faded to silent tears. In the quiet that followed, there was a soft clang of metal hitting the ground. As soon as I laid my eyes on the small knife, I understood Allen's actions. If that man had brought a weapon with the intent of using it, he would be lucky to escape with just a broken arm. Allen's intervention had probably saved the guy's life.

Allen let go of the man, who immediately collapsed in on himself, clutching his busted arm to his chest. The teen picked the knife up off the carpet; from the way it glinted in the light, it was very sharp. Turning back to the man, Allen placed the knife against his cheek. "For your sake, I hope you weren't going to do what it looked like you were going to do."

"No! No! I wasn't! I swear on my mother's grave that I wasn't!" The man screeched, his writhing causing the sharp knife to break his skin. The Noah all froze in place at the sight of freshly drawn blood, Road halfway out of her chair to go help Allen.

"He's lying." Wisley hissed through gritted teeth, keeping his eyes closed. It took a lot of concentration for him to use his mind reading abilities; the fresh blood was probably making it especially difficult. "But you already knew that. You're the psychic after all."

"I wish you wouldn't call me that." Allen sighed in annoyance, his attention never once leaving the man who cowered in front of him. "I've told you before, I only get flashes. It's not like I can actually see the future."

 _Allen's psychic?_ I had never put much stock in things like that, psychics generally turned out to be frauds and hustlers. But it certainly explained why a group of vampires needed a human. Having a psychic at their disposal would stop a lot of troubles before they could start.

I think that was the first real thing I had learned about Allen. Everything else was just little tidbits: his favorite book, his favorite food, that he'd been to Japan. I hadn't even learned where his accent came from yet.

My attention was forcibly returned to the scene in front of me when the black haired man screamed again. Blood was now dripping from a much longer cut on his cheek. He tried to squirm away, but Allen held the knife firmly against his throat. "I'm sorry! It won't happen again! I promise! Just let me go!"

At a nod from the Earl, Allen kicked the man's chair over. "Get out of here."

The man scrambled to his feet and tore out of the room. I briefly worried about him making a scene as he ran to the exit, but the restaurant wouldn't open to the public for another half an hour and the staff knew to look the other way.

Allen righted the chair, finally turning to where I could see his face. His jaw was set and his face was completely devoid of emotion. "Allen. We need to talk."

His blank expression turned into a full on frown when he looked up at Sherril. The man folded his hands in front of his face. Whatever he was about to say was serious.

I was not surprised that his next words were a suggestion that I had other things to do. I nodded and left the room, closing the door behind me. But that's as far as I went. From where I stood, I could hear everything that went on in the room, provided that they talked at a normal volume and the rest of the restaurant was quiet enough. The vampires could probably tell I was there, but I didn't care.

"First of all, you handled that beautifully. A little softer than we had hoped for, but it was your first time, so we can work on that." I couldn't tell if it was Sherril or the Earl who was talking, but the words held the same weight either way. Sherril had been acting as the Earl's second-in-command since Neah's death. "However, we really need to discuss what happened on Thursday."

 _Thursday? Right, that was the day Allen got promoted and my life turned upside down._

"What about it?"

"I'm sure you can imagine our surprise when the guy we sent you to kill turned up in the hospital, injured but very much alive. Care to explain?"

 _Alive?_ My heart skipped a beat. I immediately tried to beat down the hope that had begun to spring up. I shouldn't get excited just because he had let someone live.

"Is there a problem with that? He's scared to death, and by the time he gets out of the hospital, his business will have fallen apart. I thought I dealt with the situation rather well."

"Be that as it may, when we say we want someone dead, that's what we expect to happen."

"But you didn't say that you wanted me to kill him. You said you wanted me to handle the situation, and I handled it."

There was silence in the room. Apparently, the Earl/Sherril didn't have an argument against Allen's logic. It was Tyki who spoke up first. "Are you really that naïve, Shounen? You've been pulling that same stunt for the last two years. It's time you realized that you-"

I walked away before he was done speaking. I couldn't take any more. My feet found their way to the break room where I collapsed in a chair.

I didn't notice anyone else was around until the faucet suddenly turned on. Startled by the noise, I looked up to see Allen washing his hands. He apparently hadn't noticed me either. When he turned around to throw away the paper towel he'd dried his hands with, he dropped it on the floor. "L-Lenalee."

He stared at me for a moment before picking the towel up off the floor, his expression shifting from shocked to embarrassed. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough." I nervously played with the end of my ponytail. "Why didn't you correct me last night?"

"When you called me a killer?" He raised an eyebrow at me in mock confusion before he sighed and sat down across from me. "Because I don't know how much longer I'll be able to get away with it. They're pretty pissed at me for that last guy."

"But I said some horrible things." I bit my lip and looked down at my lap. "Why didn't you try to set me straight?"

"You said you didn't hate me." I looked up to see him smiling gently at me. "You thought I was a killer and yet you didn't want me to leave. I had expected you to send me away and that was before I knew you thought so poorly of me. I didn't want to jinx it."

"So..." The conversation was getting awkward. I tried to come up with something else to talk about. "You're psychic?"

"I really hate that word, but yes." I blinked at his words; I hadn't expected him to be so honest about it. "I only get brief glimpses. And only when something bad is about to happen around me."

"Like the guy with the knife."

"Yeah." Allen smiled briefly. "I usually try to stop what I see from happening, but sometimes I don't make it. Like when you got mugged. I should have gotten there sooner."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, and Allen seemed to notice that. "I should head back to the others. I've been gone too long."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	4. Vampires

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/followed. I'm glad there are people out there who like what I've written. :)

To the reviewer who asked: Allen being psychic is meant to parallel his cursed eye, they both give him the ability to sense when danger is nearby. The Destroyer of Time stuff is coming later. As are Kanda and Lavi's backstories. ;)

In the meantime, Lenalee gets to finally figure out that Allen's a vampire:

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

That guy certainly knew what he was doing, bringing a silver knife into a room full of vampires. Getting stabbed with that would have done some serious damage. It was almost a shame that I had to stop him from killing the Earl.

I thought about throwing the knife out, but decided against it. It would be a handy thing to have around if my cover ever got blown. The trick would be carrying it so that there was no risk of the blade touching my skin, the last thing I needed was an accidental silver burn. For the time being, I wrapped it up and shoved it in my boot. Tyki teased me about keeping a souvenir from my first foiled assassination attempt; that wasn't what this was, but it made a great excuse, so I played along.

And somehow, Lenalee watching me scare the crap out of that guy turned out to be a good thing. It was embarrassing to know that she heard the Noah lecture me like I was a child, but at least she finally knew that I wasn't what she thought I was.

After that day, it seemed like all I did was listen to people tease me about Lenalee. The Noah teased me about it at work. My friends brought it up whenever we went out. Somehow, even Cross found out about her. _If I can ever prove Alma told him..._ The hardest part was that they all said the same thing: I needed a girlfriend.

I expected Cross to chew me out for falling in love while undercover. I expected him to get on my case for being reckless and irresponsible. The guy rode me harder than he rode anyone else under him. He had been close friends with Mana and Neah, and second guessing my every decision was his way of looking out for me after they died. Yet all he said was "be careful". Which probably meant that he had ulterior motives.

Cross was the head of the FBI's investigation into the Noah family. His partner was a rather eccentric man named Froi Teidoll. I could never tell whether the two hated each other or were best friends. My Uncle Neah had been their biggest confidential informant on the case prior to his death. Making me, a rookie agent with family ties to the Noah, a godsend. They wiped my time at the bureau from my record and sent me undercover. It didn't take long at all for the Earl to come for me.

Being undercover as myself was both a blessing and a curse. I could still hang out with all of my friends. I didn't have to remember some made up backstory. Plus I was able to maintain regular contact with Cross, as the redheaded vampire was the closest thing I had to a father.

Yet working for the Noah was practically the opposite of who I actually was. Hurting people was definitely not something I was comfortable with. And being undercover, I had to make people think that that's who I was.

I was a good liar, that's why I was good undercover. It was always something that came naturally to me. I never had a problem with lying to anyone before, yet for some reason I hated lying to Lenalee. And I wasn't even lying, just not being completely honest.

It was for her own good, she was too near Wisley and his pesky ability to read the thoughts of humans. If she knew the whole story, we'd both end up in trouble. But that didn't make lying to her any easier.

It seemed like I had everyone's permission but my own to pursue Lenalee.

.x.x.

The next two weeks passed by fairly quickly. Work fell into a rhythm of watching Allen avoid violence, and the Noah occasionally teasing us about dating. Midterms were coming up at school, taking up all of my spare time. Even at work, my breaks were spent studying.

Surprisingly, I actually saw a lot more of Allen. Helping me study became a reason for us to spend time together. He was a good study partner, I learned more from our sessions than I had all semester.

I learned more about Allen too. He was born in London, and moved here when he got adopted. He went through school here, explaining why he had a British accent yet spoke American English. His father died in the car accident that scarred his face.

Then came the day that Road caught us studying in the break room. She told Tyki, and the teasing increased exponentially. The Earl joined in too, once again expressing his approval of me becoming Allen's wife. As uncomfortable as it made me, I was powerless to deny any of it. I was falling in love with Allen Walker.

It was time to finally trust the boy with my secret project.

.x.x.

I couldn't believe that I was in Lenalee's apartment. She looked gorgeous sitting on the couch next to me, her green hair down around her shoulders.

She had asked me out of the blue to come over, and she wouldn't tell me why. It soon became obvious though when she pulled out a well-worn notebook labeled "Bella Ragazza". I knew exactly what was inside the second I laid eyes on it.

Lenalee held the notebook on her lap. Her fingers twitched nervously. "I want to show you what I've gathered on the Noah. I know you're technically one of them, but I feel like I can trust you with this."

"Don't worry." I placed a hand reassuringly on top of hers. "I'm not going to tell them anything."

She smiled softly and handed me the notebook. "I'm sure you already know that I've been working at Bella Ragazza for over a year, and during that time I've worked almost exclusively in the Noah family's private room." She paused as I flipped open the notebook. "Apparently the Earl likes me?"

I laughed. "They all like you. Sherril says you're the most professional server they've had. You don't let how scared you are of them affect your work." I shrugged at the look she gave me. "Supposedly that's a good thing."

"Anyway... Once I realized what they were up to, I started writing down everything I saw and heard. I want to take those monsters down."

I wasn't at all surprised by that declaration; it was exactly what I thought she wanted. It made my life a little more difficult though, I would have to figure out how to help her without blowing my cover.

I looked through the pages of the notebook. Most of it was stuff I'd already seen, though Lenalee's handwriting was a heck of a lot easier to read than Cross's. She had a lot of details that were missing from the FBI files as well: names, dates, account numbers. It was quite impressive.

The real question was how to react to it. If I was too enthusiastic, she'd get suspicious and I'd end up blowing my cover. And if I was too unsupportive, she'd push me away again.

I looked up when she suddenly stopped me from turning the page. There was embarrassment written all over her face. "Umm... The next section is when you started showing up. You probably don't want to read what I wrote."

I let go of the page. She was right; I didn't want to read it. I sighed and closed the notebook. "You know they'll kill you if they ever find out you have this."

"I know." She sighed and took the book from me. "Given everything they've let me witness, I'm probably dead the second I decide to change jobs." They'd try bribing her or threatening her family first, but she was right, they would kill her before letting her go. "That's why I decided to write everything down. I figure if it doesn't help me take them down then it'll at least help the cops after I'm gone."

"That's morbid. You should worry about yourself a little more."

"I guess it's like you said a couple weeks ago: I don't have a choice." She sighed and dropped her gaze to her lap, blushing a beautiful shade of pink. "And, actually, it's you I'm worried about."

"Huh?" _Lenalee was worried about me?_

"You're stuck with those monsters every day. Do you even know what they really are?"

She leaned forward and grabbed my hands, effectively ruining my train of thought. "What are you talking about?"

"They're vampires, Allen. Evil, blood-sucking monsters who slaughter humans without a second thought. I'm worried about you, caught up in the middle of all that." The earnestness in her voice worried me. She thought I was human. And apparently really hated vampires. It broke my heart; she would never forgive me when she found out the truth.

I pulled my hands away from hers, and stood up. "I should go."

"Allen!" Lenalee caught up to me when I reached the door. "You can't just walk away. You need to hear this."

"Lenalee..." I sighed. I didn't want her to hate me, but I actually liked being a vampire. I couldn't pretend to be human for her, no matter how much I liked her. "You're right that the Noah are monsters, but them being vampires has nothing to do with it. Not all vampires are monsters."

I could hear her heart beat wildly as she tried to process my words. Her hand dropped from the doorknob, so I took my chance and left. "I'm sorry."

.x.x.

 _'Not all vampires are monsters'? No. It can't be._ I looked up at Allen, hoping he'd deny what I was thinking. Instead, he flashed me a sad smile, the light catching his extended fangs. _No. No. This can't be happening._ I backed away, expecting something bad to happen, but Allen merely whispered an apology and left.

 _How had I not noticed?! How did I not know that I was falling in love with a vampire?!_ My turmoil was only made worse by the fact that I should have known. The signs were all there.

I collapsed to the floor in the middle of the entryway. Tonight was supposed to have been the night I told Allen that I forgave him for being with the Noah, that we could be friends again. Instead, I opened up my big fat mouth and scared him away.

I didn't know what to do anymore. Allen was a vampire. Yet he was the opposite of everything I knew vampires to be. Vampires were like the Noah, cruel and ruthless. Or like the man who murdered my parents, just plain evil. But Allen... Allen was kind, and sweet, and funny. He had proved over the last two weeks that he was nothing like the Noah.

 _Unless it was all an act_. And once again, I felt supremely stupid. Everything made sense if I assumed that he'd been lying to me. But why? What was the purpose of gaining my trust like that? And if it _was_ all an act, why had he given up so easily? He didn't have to tell me what he was. He could have let me continue to think that he was human.

.x.x.

Unsurprisingly, Lenalee avoided me the next day. Also unsurprising was that the Noah noticed that she was avoiding me. And once the teasing started, it didn't stop. According to them, we were having a "lovers' spat", and I needed to buy her a dozen roses and apologize for whatever stupid thing I said. If only it was that easy to get her to forgive me.

No, the surprising thing happened later. While I was alone with Wisley of all people. "All teasing aside, what's your actual relationship with the waitress?"

I frowned at the question. "I think we're friends. Some days it seems like it could be more than that. Some days it seems like she hates me. Why?"

He smirked as he sipped his tea. "She's really pissed at you. What exactly did you do?"

"Don't you already know?" I couldn't help glaring at him.

"No." He shook his head. "All I'm getting from her is anger."

I sighed and slouched in my seat. I didn't believe that he didn't already know what had happened. "Apparently she didn't know that I'm a vampire."

"Ouch." He fell silent, making me wonder why he even brought up the subject. "Have you talked to her about it?"

"Talked to her about what?"

"Being a vampire."

I looked up sharply. Wisley was being serious. "You mean, have I told her how I was turned?"

He nodded. My gaze fell back to my lap as I pondered the idea. "You think it would help?"

He smiled into his teacup. "I think that prior to today, she liked you a lot. And she's a reasonable girl. She may be upset, but she'll listen if you approach her with the right topic."

"And you think that topic is 'how I became a vampire'?" I almost laughed at how ridiculous that sounded.

Wisley did laugh. "I do. You love her, right? You'd have to tell her eventually. So why not do it now and give her the chance to be mad at you for something you actually did?"

.x.x.

Work the next few days was awful. Avoiding Allen was a major pain. Especially with the Noah teasing us about having a lovers' spat.

Thursday night's dinner service was even more awful than the days' before. One of the tables I waited on had the most obnoxious preteen boy at it. The kid was loud and rude. He demanded my attention constantly. The lady accompanying him smiled apologetically, but he didn't listen to a word she said. Which certainly explained his electric blue mullet.

The final straw came when he upset his plate of spaghetti all over my blouse. I passed the table off on Miranda and rushed to the break room, praying that I had a spare shirt in my locker.

My frantic digging through my locker halted abruptly when someone cleared their throat behind me. I froze. I knew that voice. I turned around slowly and carefully, knowing full well that I was alone with someone whom you did not want to be alone with. "Is there something I can help you with, Road?"

The spiky haired girl reached out and started petting my hair. It was terrifying that she was close enough to touch me. "Stop being mean to Allen."

"Huh?" Something metal pressing into my back reminded me that I was up against the lockers and there was nowhere to go.

"You're hurting a member of my family." Road leaned in closer and exposed her fangs. "I don't like it when people hurt my family."

"Wh-what are y-you t-talking about-t?" Despite my attempts to keep my voice level, I couldn't help stuttering.

"You've been avoiding Allen. He was your friend and now you're treating him like he doesn't exist." Her fangs were dangerously close to my throat. "It's hurting him and I want you to stop."

I swallowed hard. But before I could say anything, the girl was suddenly gone. I slid to the floor in panic and relief as I surveyed the now vacant room.

It took a few minutes for my legs to stop shaking and my heart to return to a normal rhythm. I made my way to the sink and splashed water on my face.

Road wanted me to stop ignoring Allen? Actually, she said she wanted me to stop hurting him. _Ignoring Allen was hurting him?_ I was officially stuck between a rock and a hard place. I couldn't go back to how things were with Allen, he was a vampire and that was something I couldn't move past. But if I didn't... Well, then Road would come up with something really unpleasant for me to suffer through.

Knowing I didn't have much longer before someone came looking for me, I went back to my locker and quickly changed shirts. I rinsed out the spilled sauce as best I could in the little sink. Then I checked that my makeup didn't give away my run in with Road, and returned to work.

.x.x.

I locked the door behind me and set my purse and keys on the counter. It was all habit and things I could do in the dark. When I flicked on the light, I just about had a heart attack. Allen was sitting on my couch. "Hey, Lenalee."

"What the hell are you doing here?!" The last thing I needed after being threatened by Road was another vampire randomly appearing in front of me.

Allen held up his arms in surrender. "I just want to talk."

"So you broke into my apartment?!" I didn't like how shrill my voice was, but it got my point across.

"Sorry." He looked like a kicked puppy. "But you weren't ever going to talk to me at the restaurant."

That was true. I sighed. "What is it you want to talk about?"

Allen's white hair fell in his face as he looked away from me. "Someone told me that you might feel better if I told you how I became a vampire."

"Why would that make me feel better?" I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him. The part of me that was pissed at him was fighting with the part that thought he was adorable, and if he continued to make that puppy dog face, the angry part was going to lose.

He frowned and bit his lip. "I didn't really get that part, but it was something about honesty. That maybe the real reason you're so upset with me is because you feel like I've been lying to you."

"Have you?"

"Lied to you?" His silver eyes were wide with honesty as he looked up at me. "If I had known before the other night that you thought I was human, I would have corrected you sooner."

I sighed and deliberately sat down in the armchair furthest from Allen. "Fine. I'll listen to what you have to say. But answer one question for me first. How old are you?"

He blinked in confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything, if you want me to hear you out." I don't know why it mattered to me, but it did.

Allen sighed and adjusted his position on the couch. "Twenty three."

Twenty three? Given the ages of the Noah vampires, I was expecting something closer to one hundred. But that certainly explained why they tended to treat him like a child. "Alright, I'm listening. How did you become a vampire?"

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

A/N #2: Timothy and Emilia made a cameo. ;) Don't worry; I have every intention of actually introducing them at some point during this story.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	5. How Allen Became a Vampire

"Where's the best place to start..." Allen sighed heavily before he looked over at me. "This will make the most sense if you know who Neah is."

"Neah? I've heard the Noah talk about him. He was the Earl's second-in-command, right? He died about nine months before I started working at Bella Ragazza." I tilted my head at Allen. "Why is he important?"

Allen smiled a little. "Noah family vampires really care about bloodlines. It's kinda like genealogy, but with turnings instead of actual genetic lines. The inner circle are all directly 'descended'", he actually did the air quotes, "from the Earl, in six different branches. That's why he calls them his nieces and nephews."

Something didn't seem right with that. "But the Earl calls you 'nephew'. And you're not in the inner circle."

Allen smiled sheepishly. "That's where Neah comes in. Neah was the last surviving vampire turned by the Earl himself. And I'm from his line."

"That means that Neah turned you?"

"Or that I was turned by someone he turned." The smile Allen gave me said that he knew what I was fishing for and he wasn't ready to tell me yet.

"Then how does Neah connect to you?"

"Neah had a brother." Allen sighed sadly. "They were really close. The Earl never liked Mana, and he never really forgave Neah for turning him."

"Mana?" _Where had I heard that name before? Oh..._ "Your father."

"Yeah." The sad look on Allen's face made me want to hug him. "I never knew what Mana was, never knew that the man who had raised me was a vampire. Until after he was gone...

"I loved Mana more than anything. I never knew my birth parents, never knew where I came from. But I had Mana, and that was all I needed. The two of us were a happy little family; we did everything together. Neah always called us a pair of idiots." He smiled lightly at the memory. "I learned later that that was what Mana did to keep himself sane through the years. He found human orphans with sad stories and raised them as his own."

"Allen..."

He shook his head and smiled at me. "I caught Mana and Neah arguing a lot when I was in high school. They always changed the subject whenever I got close. Neah was trying to convince Mana to turn me. Mana..." Allen sighed. "Mana was too scared. He was afraid that I'd reject him when I learned what he was, like all the kids before me had. He didn't want to lose me."

If vampires could cry then Allen would have been bawling like a baby. I could tell that he was telling me things he'd never told anyone before, and my heart ached for him. But he was getting off topic. "What happened with the car accident?"

Allen's hand moved to the scar on his face. "That was five years ago, towards the end of my senior year of high school. Mana had picked me up after school. We were going out of town for the weekend. My last memory of him was ... fighting over the radio dial like we always did on road trips."

I don't know when I had moved, but I found myself sitting next to Allen, squeezing his hand gently. "The crash was bad. There was a lot of fire. To kill a vampire as old as Mana was, there had to be. Rescue workers pulled me out. My face was cut open and my arm was badly burned. I'd been stabbed in the chest by a stray piece of metal and it barely missed my heart. They didn't think I would make it. I was in the intensive care unit for two weeks. They had to keep me unconscious because I flipped out about Mana whenever I was awake. I don't remember it, but I apparently once made it all the way to the street outside before the nurses found me. When I was well enough to be moved, Neah took me home with him."

"And that's when he turned you."

"Yeah." He was silent for a while and I thought he might have reached his limit. "He'd actually been sent to kill me."

"What?! Really?!" I had known the Noah were cruel, but somehow it still surprised me that it was so bad that they'd order the death of an innocent child in the hospital.

"The Noah had decided that with Mana gone, I was a liability. They sent Neah to get rid of me. But they underestimated just how much Neah loved his brother. With Mana gone, I was all he had left, and he wasn't going to lose me too. So he turned me."

"Why are you working for an organization that tried to kill you? How are you still alive?"

Allen sighed. "When the order's given out it's phrased as 'kill or turn', basically the idea is to force the problem to become an ally or end them. It's a last resort for when things go too far. Neah always refused to turn people on command. They sent him thinking he'd kill me, but the turning was an acceptable alternative.

"I spent a few months with Neah, learning about being a vampire and the Noah and everything. Then I went my own way. Until he died. That's when the Noah tracked me down. It started off as odd jobs. I didn't even know who I was working for at first, and the pay was good, so I didn't question it. But before I knew it, it was too late to get out. And now I'm stuck."

"The Noah wanted you dead. But then they went through the trouble of recruiting you? What changed?"

"Neah's death. Before a member of the inner circle dies, they pick an heir, a human to turn who inherits their powers. Road inherited her teleportation abilities from the vampire who turned her." I cringed at the mention of Road; her threat was still fresh in my memory.

"So they tracked you down because you have Neah's powers." But I hadn't heard of Neah being psychic, something was still missing.

"No. Neah never actually passed his powers to anyone. They came after me because I'm the only living vampire in Neah's line. Mana and I were the only ones Neah ever turned."

He remained silent, and I could tell he was done with his story. He was waiting for me to ask questions. "I'll admit that I don't know much about the subject, but why'd your face scar? Shouldn't the turning have healed it?"

Allen's fingers traced the red lines on his face. "You're right; it should have healed when I was turned. It was a mystery to Neah too. I'd been a vampire for about a month when he finally figured it out. I inherited Mana's abilities."

"But you said Neah turned you. So how...?"

"The car accident." Allen narrowed his eyes at a random spot on the coffee table. "Mana was over a thousand years old. A vampire that age has a lot of power. And Mana used that power to keep me alive until the paramedics arrived. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but that magic was still in my system when Neah turned me. It did some unexpected things. It prevented me from healing properly, and it gave me Mana's abilities, but it also made me psychic."

I couldn't help narrowing my eyes at him. "But aren't vampires only able to have one set of abilities?"

"Normally, yes." He smiled slightly. "Inheriting the abilities of the vampire who turned you isn't the only way to get them. Sometimes they develop naturally during a turning. Usually as an amplified version of a talent already had. I was always really good at sensing danger; it made sense that I became psychic as a vampire. Or at least, that's how Neah explained it to me." Allen sighed and shook his head. "But inherited abilities override the natural ones. Having inherited Mana's, I shouldn't have developed my own, but I did."

"Because of the transfer of power."

"Right."

He fell silent again; it was time for another question. I mentally ran through my list, suddenly becoming aware that we were still holding hands. "Do you _like_ being a vampire?"

The expression on his face was really weird. "Honestly, I love it. There's the occasional day when the idea of being _eighteen_ forever is a little hard to deal with. But everything else..." He flashed his fangs at me as he grinned.

"But what about the bad things?" The look he gave me confirmed everything he'd just said about loving what he was. He honestly didn't see anything wrong with it. I would have to expand on my question if I wanted an answer. "Like not being able to eat real food, or being stuck inside during the day, or not having a reflection?"

He contemplated the question for a moment. "For starters, that last one's a myth. It's from the days when mirrors were made with silver, which would blur a vampire's reflection. As for the others... Vampires can eat food, it's just not necessary for survival and it doesn't provide much nourishment. So most don't bother with it. But it's handy in a pinch. Kinda like those times when you forget to eat lunch and make do with a protein bar. It's just enough to take the edge off." He smiled at me and I blushed. I'd hoped he'd forgotten that I did that.

"When it comes to sunlight..." He closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch. "I know a lot of vampires have trouble with no longer being able to spend as much time outdoors as they used to. But I'm not one of them. It's just not a big deal to me."

"What about the ... blood drinking part?" I squirmed in my seat, embarrassed by both the question and the memory of the horrible things I had said in that same spot just a few days earlier. "It doesn't seem like you'd be ok with killing people, even if it is for your own survival."

Allen stared at me for a moment, looking like he was staring into my soul and making me squirm even more. There was a sadness in his silver eyes that made me uncomfortable. "Ah I get it now..."

He smiled brightly at me. "Very, _very_ few vampires kill the humans they bite. It's considered murder just like it would be if a human killed another human. Plus it's just wasteful, only living humans produce blood after all." He winked at me.

I felt better learning that I had that wrong, but all it really did was make me more embarrassed from feeling like an idiot. "But what about you? How do you feel about it?"

"I feel ... lucky to have been turned in this era, where the humans know that vampires are real. There are plenty of humans around that are willing to a let a vampire drink their blood."

I blinked at him. "You mean there are people out there who actually _want_ to be bitten? _Why_?"

"It feels good." He shrugged and then made a face. "Look, I'm not really comfortable talking about this. Can we move on to something else?"

"Of course." I squeezed his hand. "Umm... You got turned while you were a senior. How exactly did that work? Did you go back to school, to graduation, prom, any of that?"

"I was in a medically induced coma during prom, so that didn't happen." Allen laughed a little then sighed. "I never went back to school either. The accident happened close enough to the end of the year that the school decided to let me graduate without making up the lost time. I didn't even go back to get my diploma, I let them mail it to me."

"But didn't you want to see your friends again?" I couldn't imagine just dropping off the radar with only a few weeks of school left.

He laughed but there was no humor in it. "I didn't have to go back to see the few friends I had."

I recognized that as a way of saying that he didn't have any friends. But that didn't make sense; Allen was friends with absolutely everyone at Bella Ragazza. "Huh? Weren't you friends with everyone though?"

He shook his head. "I didn't exactly fit in in high school."

"What do you mean?"

"High school is a place where people judge you on your appearance. I may not have had the scar on my face back then, but I wasn't exactly normal." He pulled his hand away from mine, making me wonder what I had done wrong. What I didn't expect was for him to take his jacket off. I watched curiously as he rolled up his left sleeve and pulled off that white glove that he always wore. The skin of his left arm and hand was pitch black.

Allen held his hand out where we both could see it. "In a way, I'm grateful for the car accident. This is a major improvement over the birthmark I used to have."

I took his hand and pulled it down to the couch so that we were holding hands again. "There had to have been someone that didn't care about that."

"A few. Though I've never been entirely sure if Rikei and Shifu actually liked me or if they just followed Lou Fa around." The look on his face was strange.

"What is it?" I couldn't help laughing a little. There was a story behind that expression.

"Lou Fa had an obsessive crush on me. I was never really interested in her, but we went out a couple times." I knew he was talking about something from five years ago, but the jealousy flared anyway. He laughed, and I couldn't tell if it was at my reaction or his story. "Though school dances and football games aren't exactly dates, and Rikei and Shifu always managed to tag along. Alma crashed a couple of our outings too, but he's insane and would leave just as suddenly as he showed up."

 _What had started this conversation anyway? Oh yeah..._ "Those sound like good memories, why didn't you want to see them again after you were turned?"

He laughed lightly. "I never said that, I said I didn't have to go back to school to see them. I saw them a couple times, but we all went our separate ways once we graduated."

His cell phone chose that moment to ring. He glared at the caller ID before answering the phone. "Alma, I don't care what's happening or how mean Kanda's being to you, I don't have time for you right now." He hung up without waiting for a response.

He smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but like I said, Alma's insane. If I hadn't answered the phone he would have kept calling."

...x...x...

Elsewhere:

Alma blinked down at Krory's cell phone. Not only had Allen known it was him despite the use of a different phone, but the kid had also known that Kanda had been threatening to stab him. It was scary how well Allen knew him sometimes.

The weirdest part of the call though, was how abrupt the other had been. Usually Allen was polite and patient, he was never that rude.

He was also never late...

It all clicked together in the vampire's devious mind: Allen was finally hooking up with the girl he'd been mooning over. It was about damn time. He ran off to tell the rest of the guys.

...x...x...

The room grew quiet after the phone call. Allen clearly had nothing more to say, which meant that it was time for me to do the talking. "I've got one last question for you. It seems like every time I decide I can trust you, something like this happens. Are there any more life shattering secrets you're keeping from me?"

Allen sighed. "Lenalee. You spend several hours a day around a group of incredibly dangerous vampires, one of whom can read minds. If I were to keep something from you, it would be to keep you safe from them. If there's one thing we _both_ know, it's that they'll kill you if they think you know too much."

That was very true. It wasn't the answer I was hoping for though. Allen was basically saying that he would lie to me whenever he felt it was necessary. But it was like he said: ignorance would keep me safe. I was just going to have to accept it, and remember that if I ever caught him lying to me again, he was doing it for my own safety.

And that was the end of it. My reasons for being angry at him were gone. I was still scared that he was a vampire, but after everything he had told me, I had realized that my hatred had been based on misconceptions.

But that created a new problem. With my anger and hatred gone, all that was left was the part of me that loved Allen. I wanted to be so much more than friends with the extremely nice, and incredibly hot, British kid who was sitting on my couch. If only that was what he wanted too.

He was giving me that kicked puppy look again. I sighed. "Fine. I forgive you. We can be friends again."

He smiled, but there was something sad behind it. "What's wrong Allen?"

"Nothing." He looked away and straightened his sleeve. "...I was just hoping that maybe we could be ... more than friends."

"Oh, Allen!" Apparently, I wasn't done getting things wrong today.

"I'm sorry." He looked even sadder than before. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'll go now."

Allen stood up to leave, but I stopped him. He froze when I placed my hand on his scarred cheek. "Lenalee-"

Then I leaned in and kissed him.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	6. Afterwards

As much as I hated to admit it, Wisley had been right: talking did help. And while the goal was initially to get her to stop being mad at me, telling Lenalee my story actually helped _me_ feel better too.

I managed to get through my story without being too dishonest. Obviously, I didn't tell Lenalee that I was working undercover, and I _had_ outright lied about not inheriting Neah's power, but those were things that would get us both killed if she accidentally revealed them to the Noah.

And then she went and asked me if I was keeping anything else from her. I wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. Fortunately, she seemed to understand that her life was on the line and I had no choice but to lie to her.

It was all resolved. She didn't hate me. We were friends again. And then I went and told her I wanted us to be more than friends. I was ready to kick myself.

I did not expect her to kiss me. It was sweet and much too short. She laughed lightly when she pulled away; it made me wonder what my face looked like. "Sorry, I probably should have started with: I want to be more than friends too."

Lenalee looked so beautiful blushing like that. And she liked me back. I was over the moon. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer. This kiss was much more intense. I finally had her and I didn't want to ever let go.

My cell phone rang. I let it go to voicemail, but then it rang again. I was going to kill Alma. I broke the kiss to answer the phone. "What the hell do you want now?"

"Is that how you answer the phone now, idiot apprentice?" I had just sworn at Cross. Crap.

"Sorry. I thought you were someone else. Alma's been driving me crazy all night."

Cross laughed, but I knew to be scared of that laugh. "Don't apologize for swearing. It's good to hear you loosen up. If you're going to apologize for something, apologize for being late. Where the fuck are you?!"

"Shit. What time is it?" I looked at the display on my phone. It was one am. Crap. I had _really_ lost track of time. "Sorry. I'm on my way. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"You better be!" He hung up abruptly.

I turned back to Lenalee. She laughed. "Go. We can talk tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" I didn't want to leave her like that.

"I'm sure." She smiled and kissed my forehead. "Go meet whoever that was before you piss him off more. I have class tomorrow; I was going to have to kick you out soon anyway."

I smiled and grabbed my jacket. "Thanks."

She walked me to the door where I kissed her goodnight before I left. After everything that had happened that night, I really didn't want to leave.

.x.x.

I collapsed on my bed as soon as Allen had gone. Everything he'd told me that night was swirling around in my head, yet the only part I could focus on was that kiss. He liked me. Letting myself fall in love with him hadn't been a waste.

He was a vampire though. And there were lots of issues with that. But that night only one bothered me: unless I was willing to let him turn me, we wouldn't have a future together. Because this wasn't like one of those cheesy vampire novels where the lead guy is full of angst and self-hatred. Allen genuinely liked what he was. He would want to turn me if things between us ever got serious.

That was still a long way away though. In the meantime, I was going to enjoy my chance to date a hot British guy. I'd deal with the vampire stuff when the time came.

.x.x.

I sprinted from Lenalee's apartment to the coffee shop where I was meeting Cross. It was a little hole in the wall place that was open 24/7, which made it a great vampire hangout. Everyone there was either a vampire or a human with a caffeine addiction.

I slid into the chair across from the redheaded vampire just seconds before the alarm on his phone beeped. "Impressive. You actually managed to make it here in ten minutes. Now, where were you and why are you late?"

"I was only late by the ten minutes it took me to get here. _Most people_ would still consider that on time."

"You're not _most people._ For you, on time is fifteen minutes early. So spill. What were you doing that was more important than beings here?"

I sighed. I didn't want to tell Cross that, but he'd see through any lie I told. "I was with Lenalee."

He laughed in a way that sent chills down my spine. "So you finally sealed the deal with her."

"Huh?" I almost blushed at the pointed look he gave me. "Oh god no. All we did was talk."

Cross laughed again. "Of course that's all that happened. That's why there's lipstick on your face."

I wiped my sleeve over my forehead and, sure enough, it was pink. "Fine, we kissed." I glared at Cross. "Happy now?"

"I'd be happier if you had actually slept with her, but I'll take what I can get." He leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette.

"Can we get to the point? Why'd you call me here?" I did not like having to leave Lenalee just to get teased about her.

Cross pulled a photo out of his jacket. "This guy showed up at the office the other day with a strange story. We think he's involved with the Noah." He held the photo out to me. "Do you know him?"

I took the photo; it was of the guy who tried to kill the Earl. "Yeah, I remember him. We crossed paths about three weeks ago."

Cross put the photo away. "Good. Then maybe you know what happened to him. When he came to us, he'd been in some kind of trouble. He'd had stitches in his face, and his radius and ulna had both been set with pins. He's clearly terrified of whoever he tangled with; he refuses to talk about it."

I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or feel proud of myself. I settled on sighing. "I guess it's good for my cover that he's terrified of me. But _pins_? I knew I'd broken the bone, but I didn't think I hit him _that_ hard."

Cross was laughing by that point. When he calmed down, I started at the beginning and told the story of what happened. "Teidoll will be happy to hear that you're handling yourself well. He was worried that promotion would be too much for you."

I snorted. "He worries too much in general. That's why Kanda can't stand him."

"Are you still doing ok, Allen?" I could tell from the question that the meeting was over. Cross always ended our talks by acting like he was concerned about me. "You don't need us to pull you out, do you?"

I laughed mirthlessly and stood up from the table. "If I wanted that, I'd have said so, and if you really thought I needed it, you wouldn't have asked. I'm doing fine. Actually, I kissed Lenalee earlier; I'm doing better than fine."

He laughed and we said goodbye. I called Alma when I got outside. With any luck, they would still be at the bar; a freshly tapped vein was in order.

.x.x.

I couldn't focus on my classes at all on Friday. All I could think about was seeing Allen once I got to work. It was a mixture of excitement and butterflies.

That all morphed into nerves when I walked into the break room and the memory of Road's threat came crashing back to me. I had made up with Allen, but who knew if that was actually good enough for her.

A hand on my shoulder had me jumping and letting out a small shriek. I whirled around. It was just Allen.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." He smiled sweetly. "Are you ok?"

I fought to regulate my breathing. "I'm fine."

"If you say so." He leaned closer and kissed my forehead.

Then we kissed for real. Allen wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into him. It felt so good.

I had to break the kiss when I needed air, but Allen still held me close. "You work tomorrow, so will Sunday afternoon do for our first date?"

I was taken aback by the directness of the question. It may have been stupid, but I hadn't thought 'more than friends' would become 'dating' so quickly. "Sure. Did you have something specific in mind?"

Allen whispered in my ear. "It's a surprise."

I laughed. That was both romantic and childish at the same time. "I don't want you to spoil the surprise, but will you at least give me an idea of what to wear?"

He was silent. I didn't know if it was because he didn't understand or because he was thinking hard. But it must have been the latter because he spoke before I clarified the question. "Comfortable shoes. There'll be some walking involved, and you'll be on your feet a lot."

"In a change of pace from what I do every day." I laughed and he smiled. And God, that smile seemed so much more beautiful when I was the one causing it.

Allen kissed me quickly and stepped away. "I don't want to make you late. I'll see you inside."

When he was gone, I hurried to finish getting ready for my shift. The rest of the evening passed slowly. My anxiousness for those moments when Allen and I were in the same room made the time drag. And when we were together, all we did was smile awkwardly at each other.

I was cleaning up the private room after their meeting had broken up. The Earl and Lulubell had left, and the others were gathering up their things. I was doing my best to ignore them and focus on my work. But that was a hard task when Road was clinging to Allen in a way that made my blood boil.

"Oi, Shounen." I couldn't help glancing up when Tyki addressed Allen. "What's with you today? It seemed like you were somewhere else all evening."

Allen frowned and finally shoved Road away; she danced off towards her father. "What are you talking about, Tyki?"

The dark haired man laughed at the look on Allen's face. "I've never seen you that distracted before. So spill, what's more interesting than our company?"

Allen seemed to be at a loss for words. Wisley snickered, and I dropped my gaze back to the table I was wiping down so that no one could see me blush; I knew full well that my thoughts were what had made the Noah laugh. "Of course he was distracted, Tyki. He's finally dating the waitress."

Road was embracing me from behind in a split second. I tensed up when she whispered in my ear. "Good girl."

Allen growled, whether it was at Wisley or at Road, I couldn't tell, but she moved away immediately. "Yes, we're dating. Now can we finally drop the subject and move on?"

.x.x.

Saturday was the worst day yet when it came to the teasing from the Noah. When we weren't handling business, they were trying to give me dating advice. Most of what they said was either stupid or obvious. And they didn't care if Lenalee was in the room or not. I felt like I could have died from embarrassment.

.x.x.

When Sunday _finally_ rolled around, Allen picked me up promptly at two, exactly like he said he would. I was dying of curiosity and searching for any hints as to where we were going. He was dressed exactly like always: nice enough to make me feel underdressed. But the first thing he said was, "You look amazing", so I guessed it didn't matter.

I noticed that the sky was cloudy as we walked down to his car. I commented on it solely for something to say. "I hope it doesn't rain."

He smiled at me. "No rain in the forecast, just clouds. I can be outside all I want in weather like this."

 _Right. Vampire. Why was it so easy to forget that?_

He opened the car door for me and helped me in. It was a surprising gesture. His car was nice, but not expensive; there was nothing too fancy beyond the tinted windows. He pointed out the air controls with an embarrassed smile. "You'll have to adjust that yourself. I don't even know if it works. It's just wind and noise to me, so it's never been turned on."

We made small talk as he drove, mostly about the radio. He told me how music sounds different to vampires than it does to humans. And how after he was turned he couldn't stand some of his favorite songs anymore. He actually smiled when he told me that they were the same ones Mana always hated.

He pulled into a parking lot, and I looked around. I was curious where a vampire would go on a date, and I was disappointed with what I saw. "The zoo? Isn't that kind of... lame?"

"Probably." Allen laughed. "But my friends know I'm out with you, and they really want to crash our date."

He took my hand as we walked to the entrance. "They would never think to look for us here." He meant something by that, but I couldn't figure out what.

The zoo was more crowded than I expected it to be, given the gloomy weather. But then again, the other visitors were mostly families with kids, and it was a Sunday, so it made sense. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would too, but that was probably because of Allen.

.x.x.

Lenalee looked absolutely gorgeous. She was wearing a Chinese style blouse and a short denim skirt, and her long green hair was done up in pigtails. I was much more interested in watching her than I was in seeing the exhibits.

But then, that was at least part of why I had chosen to take her to the zoo. There wasn't anything I actually wanted to see there, so it wouldn't matter if I missed something. I let her lead the way, not really paying attention to what was around us, simply enjoying holding her hand.

.x.x.

As the afternoon passed, I noticed that Allen was being weird; it was like he didn't actually want to be there. It wasn't me, I could tell from the way he smiled at me that that wasn't the case. But whenever I would move to get a closer look at the animals, he would hang back.

Having had enough of that, I dragged him with me the next time I wanted to see something up close, ignoring his protests that he was fine where he was. The monkeys that had been chattering away moments earlier were completely silent and nowhere to be seen. It was strange, especially when the noise picked up again after we had walked away.

Something similar happened at each of the next few exhibits, and it was confusing to me why the animals were suddenly acting up. I looked over at Allen, to see if he had any idea what was going on. He laughed and led me to an empty bench. "That's why I didn't want to get closer, Lena. The animals know what I am. They're reacting to me being a vampire."

I blinked at him. "Why'd you bring me here, if you knew that was going to happen?"

Allen laughed again. "Because my friends know that too, and they'd never expect me to bring you here."

"Then you weren't joking about them wanting to crash our date?"

He laughed and shook his head.

"I want to meet them." The statement was worth it just for the look on his face.

After that, we hung back from the exhibits and simply walked around like we were at a park. We stopped at a bench near the lions so that I could get a rock out of my shoe. We sat there for some time, as the sun chose that moment to come out. It was somewhat amusing watching Allen slide away from me to stay in the shade.

While we were sitting there, a kid nearby started yelling at his parents. It was amusing at first, listening to him whine because he wanted to hear the lions roar, but the feeling passed quickly when he started screaming. The kid was attracting a lot of attention. I turned to Allen to suggest that we go someplace else, but he was no longer beside me.

I watched curiously as he walked toward the enclosure and leaned against the railing. If I didn't know him better it would have looked like a casual act, but I recognized his posture as the one he used when he was with the Noah. It was therefore no surprise to me when the lions started freaking out. The kid stopped screaming and ran to the railing in excitement.

Allen was walking back towards me when he was approached by a zoo employee. "Umm, sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. It's against zoo rules to antagonize the animals like that."

As I moved to join them, I saw Allen pull a completely innocent expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that. I was just trying to calm the screaming child down."

The employee seemed caught off guard by Allen's response. I stood beside Allen and took his hand while the man stumbled over his words. Allen smiled sweetly and interrupted him. "Don't worry about it, we were leaving anyway. I'm sorry for causing problems."

We walked toward the exit in silence, the pace Allen set was almost too hard for me to keep up with. It wasn't until we were almost at the car that I noticed that the sun was still out. Which explained why he didn't open the door for me like he had earlier.

He practically collapsed into his seat, and it surprised me when his first words were an apology to me. "Sorry I got us kicked out, that definitely wasn't how I pictured things going."

"Don't worry about that, it'll make a great story later." I almost laughed at the expression on his face. "What about you? Are you ok? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine. Though it would probably be a good idea to stay inside for a while." He smiled at me and I couldn't tell if he was lying or not. "Shall we head to dinner? I know a great place by-"

He was cut off by his phone ringing. That seemed to happen a lot, he should probably figure out how to silence it. I couldn't help giggling as I listened to him talk. "Of course you couldn't find us, Alma! I knew you'd be looking! … Of course, but- … I'm not going to tell you that! Why'd you bother asking? … Ugh. Fine."

Allen hung up suddenly and turned to me. "Do you really want to meet my friends?"

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	7. Allen's Friends, Part 1

_Allen hung up suddenly and turned to me. "Do you really want to meet my friends?"_

I turned to gape at Allen. "You mean _right now_?"

He shrugged. "Only if you want. They're all at the bar right now, and the sun coming out kind of ruined my plans for the rest of the evening."

I latched onto the first coherent question in my head. "When you say 'bar' do you mean the same thing humans do?"

"Of course." He smiled at me, showing his fangs briefly. "And before you ask: yes, there will be other humans there. It's the weekend, so it should be a pretty even mix tonight."

"And your friends? Are they...?" As intrigued as I was by the idea of his friends, I was so scared of the answer to my question that I couldn't even finish it.

Allen placed a hand on my knee. "They're both humans and vampires. You've got nothing to worry about... On that front anyway. They might try to embarrass you though."

I gave him a look and he laughed. "They _always_ try to embarrass me, so I just want you to be aware that it's a possibility."

My gaze fell to my lap. "...Do _you_ want me to meet them?"

Allen was silent for a moment. "It's not something I envisioned happening on our first date, but yes, I do want that."

"Then let's go."

.x.x.

Allen parked a couple blocks away and we walked to the bar. There was a line at the door to check IDs, but Allen led me around it. He smiled at the bouncer and we went inside. The place was pretty crowded for a Sunday, but Allen hadn't lied, it looked like a normal bar. He gave the blonde bartender a slight wave as he led me further inside.

Suddenly appearing out of the crowd, a young man with spiky purple hair pounced on Allen. "You came!"

"Get off me, Alma."

So this was the Alma that Allen claimed drove him crazy. He didn't seem that bad to me. But then again, he continued to hang on Allen despite Allen's attempts to shove him off. "Is that really what you wore on your date?!"

"Shut up! I don't want your fashion advice."

"I don't care that you don't want it! You need it!"

"What's wrong with what he's wearing?" I blushed the moment the words left my mouth.

The spiky haired man immediately forgot about Allen and focused on me. I was embraced in a tight hug. He kissed both of my cheeks before he let go. I knew I was beet red. "No, no, no. You're much too hot to be with Allen. Why don't you-"

He was cut off by a smack on the back of the head from a vaguely familiar looking redhead. "Back off, Alma. You'll scare her away before the rest of us get to meet her."

The redhead turned to me and I saw the eyepatch over his right eye. It was definitely him, the guy from the bookstore. It was strange seeing him there, yet it was relaxing seeing someone I at least sort of knew. "Hi, ...um, Lavi, right?"

"Yes..." He gave me a confused look. "Do I- oh!"

Lavi turned to Allen and smacked him the same way he'd just hit Alma. Allen was less than thrilled with the unexpected head slap. "What the hell was that for?!"

"For depriving me of the fun of setting you up on a blind date." Lavi wrapped his arms around both of our shoulders and led us into the crowd.

"Huh?" Allen and I reacted in unison.

The redhead's next words were a barely concealed whine. "I can't set you up with the girl from the bookstore if you're already dating her."

I repeated my confusion reaction, but Allen got really excited. When he smiled at me, his eyes were sparkling. "What?! No way!"

"Um, could you explain, please?" I stopped walking and pulled away from them.

Alma laughed, draping his arms around Allen's shoulders from behind. "Lavi's been trying to set Allen up with this girl he knows from work for like six months now. Supposedly, she shares his taste in novels. Once you came into the picture Lavi got him to agree to go out with the bookstore girl if the thing with you didn't work out."

"But you're the same person!"

I studied the redhead for a moment. "Actually, I have an identical twin sister."

The look on Lavi's face was priceless. He wasn't someone who seemed to ever be at a loss for words, and I had just rendered him completely speechless.

The serious moment lasted about twenty seconds before I couldn't take any more and burst out laughing. Allen snickered. "Really Lavi? You fell for that?"

While we laughed, Lavi collapsed dramatically in a heap on the floor. Alma helped him up, shaking his head at the redhead. "See I told you, it's a conspiracy. Allen knows everyone!"

Allen groaned. "Please don't start that again."

They ignored him and focused on me. Alma wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Did he ever tell you how he got into your apartment the other night?"

"Come on guys! Don't tell her that!"

Once again, Allen was ignored. They were clearly waiting for me to answer the question. "No. I just assumed he broke in."

 _I'm on a date with a guy who has broken into my apartment. Komui's going to love that._ Lavi and Alma laughed at my answer. Allen looked embarrassed. I looked around at the three of them. "What?"

Lavi and Alma looked pointedly at Allen. He sighed and rolled his eyes at them. "Fine!"

The white haired teen smiled sheepishly at me. "Your landlady let me in."

I blinked at him. I had no clue what to do with that information. Lavi and Alma leaned against each other, laughing their heads off. Allen smacked them both before taking my hand and leading me away. "It's not that big of a deal. They're just idiots."

He took me to a table that was occupied by a young, navy haired Asian man who looked pissed at something, and a slightly older man who was dressed even nicer than Allen was. The second man stood up when I reached their table. He bowed formally, taking my hand and kissing the back of it. "You must be Miss Lenalee. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. I am Count Arystar Krory the third."

"Geez Krory, it's not the eighteenth century. No one talks like that anymore." _So this Krory is a vampire. And an old one too. Probably older than Sherril and Tyki._ Allen pulled out a chair for me as he complained about the man's formal speech. It was quite ironic.

"But she is a lady, Allen. And ladies must be greeted properly."

I smiled at the man as I sat down. "It's nice to meet you, Krory."

The Asian man had ignored the exchange. I turned to look at him, expecting him to introduce himself like the others had. He didn't. Allen laughed as he sat between me and Krory. "That's Kanda. He's always like that, so don't worry about it. It's me he's got the problem with."

"You should keep your mouth shut, Moyashi." If looks could kill, Kanda's would have murdered Allen on the spot.

It didn't faze Allen though. "My name is Allen, Bakanda. Can't you get that through your thick skull already?"

I stared critically at Allen, confused by his rude behavior towards the Asian. _Oh, they're frenemies. They_ like _fighting with each other like that._ I offered my hand to Kanda. When he didn't take it, I narrowed my eyes at him. I spoke levelly, enunciating each word. "It's nice to meet you, Kanda."

He scoffed and looked away, but he shook my hand first, so it was a point for me.

Krory and Allen were talking about some current event that didn't interest me. So I took the chance to look at my surroundings. And kind of I wished I hadn't. I got an eyeful of a vampire biting down on someone's wrist.

Thus far I had been doing ok on my first date with a vampire. Allen was making it easy to see that even though he wasn't human, he was still a normal person. His friends were too, I couldn't tell which were vampires and which were human.

The rest of the bar was a different story. At first glance, everyone had looked relatively normal. But when I looked closer, what I saw scared me a little. I had only learned a week earlier that vampires weren't what I thought they were. And seeing them feeding out in the open like that was a little too much to handle.

"Don't worry. No one here will bite you without your permission." I jumped at the whisper in my ear. Alma smiled as I looked up at him. "The policy here is that the human has to ask the vampire to bite them. It's a trend that Hevlaska started to avoid legal troubles. It doesn't really matter though. Most of the humans here are here because they want to be bitten. The rest are like Lavi, they like hanging out with vampires."

I glanced at the redhead who was placing some beer bottles on the table. He might have winked at me, but with the eyepatch, it was hard to tell. "No, no. You've got it all wrong, Alma. I'm here because the girls are hot and I'm hoping to get laid."

Alma laughed. "Then how come you always go home alone? You're nothing but talk. Stop trying to flirt with Allen's girl. If he catches you, you'll be in a world of pain."

' _Allen's girl'?_ It was only our first date, it seemed a little sudden to be described as his already, even if my love-struck side practically drooled at the words.

Lavi laughed. "You're the one touching her, Alma. You'd be in more trouble than I would. Besides, Allen couldn't hurt a fly. It's not like there's anything to actually be scared of."

 _'Couldn't hurt a fly'?_ The memory of the day before, when I'd watched Allen knee a guy in the stomach so hard he coughed up blood, popped into my head. Did Allen's friends not know that he was one of the Noah?

Alma snickered from behind me. "Just give it a rest already."

He leaned over me so that our eyes were on the same level. That's when I saw his fangs for the first time; he looked creepy upside down. And it was scary having my personal space invaded like that. "So, Lenalee, what is it that you like about Allen? It can't be that you find him attractive. He's just so... Allen."

I placed a hand on the top of Alma's head and shoved him away. Cringing at the amount of gel that was in his hair, I grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped my hand off. "First of all, I can see why he says you drive him crazy. Second, he's British; if you don't understand that then you're an idiot. And third, of course I find him attractive; I wouldn't be dating him if I didn't. The real question is: if Allen can't stand you, how are you friends?"

Alma laughed and leaned on the back of my chair. "That's quite a question. Senior year of high school, well it was like my fourth senior year, but that's not the point right now. I sometimes hung out with Allen and his friends, they were weird and I liked that. Anyway, one day Allen just disappeared, you know what happened there. It was six weeks before I saw him again. I knew he was going to be at the party, so I went looking for him, to find out what had happened. I was not expecting to find him like that."

"You mean...?"

"Yeah. I'd known Allen for a while. He'd never been even remotely interested in vampires. I was under the impression that he wouldn't have wanted to be turned. But there he was, a vampire. And it didn't bother him at all. It scared the crap out of me. We've been best friends ever since."

While I was listening to Alma, a skinny brunette approached the table. She said something to Allen, but I couldn't hear their conversation. Assuming she was a waitress, I didn't pay much attention to her. But then Allen suddenly got up from the table. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and they walked off together.

Jealousy flared instantly. My date just walked off with another woman. And he appeared to be flirting with her. I was halfway out of my chair when a hand on my shoulder pushed me back down. Lavi was laughing at me. "Relax, it's not what you think."

"Huh?"

"You're so adorable." This time Alma was the one who laughed. He started to pet my hair and I had to push his hand away. "He's taking her to the back room where he can bite her in private. Did he not explain that?"

Before I could answer, Kanda scoffed. "Of course he didn't. The Moyashi wouldn't talk about _that_ with a girl he likes."

"True, true." Alma nodded a few times then focused on me again. "Honestly, Allen's the best at explaining this, but I guess we'll have to do."

He sat sideways in the chair Allen had vacated. "You see the blonde vampire woman tending bar? That's Hevlaska. She's a matchmaker of sorts. She can read people really well. When a human is looking to be bitten, they go to her and then she points them to a vampire that likes their type."

It took a second to get what he was driving at. "You mean like their blood type?"

"And height, weight, body type, and gender, among other things." Lavi elaborated. "In general, vampires like their blood to match their sexual orientation."

 _Does that mean what I think it does?_ "Meaning?"

Alma smirked. "Exactly what you think it means." He gestured at Krory. "Krory is straight, he prefers blood from women. I'm bi, I don't care either way."

I couldn't help glancing in the direction Allen went. "What about Allen?"

They all gave me the same non-committal shrug. Lavi spoke. "Like I said, it only works in general. Allen's a special case."

Alma spoke again before I could ask for clarification. "One of the other things Hevlaska looks at is whether or not the human would be willing to go home with the vampire that bites them."

I blinked at him. "Why does that matter?"

Lavi clapped his hands over Alma's mouth before the spiky haired vampire could saw anything. "Why don't you answer that one, Crow-chan? No need for this idiot to scare her away just yet."

Krory smiled gently at me. "There are reasons why vampires and sex are historically linked. A biting can be an incredibly sexual encounter. That's why it all happens out in the open here, to keep things clean. Hevlaska wants her bar to be a safe place for both humans and vampires, so she matches those vampires who want sexual encounters with those humans who are willing to leave with them, so that none of it happens here."

That was a lot of information to digest. And it was nothing like what I had expected to hear. "But didn't you say Allen was going to the back room?"

"Again, Allen's a special case. He's one of what, four? Or is it five?" Alma's question was directed at Krory.

"At last count it was three, but I don't ever use it, so it may as well be two."

Alma nodded and turned back to me. "Allen's one of the two vampires that are allowed to use the back room. They're the ones Hevlaska trusts to keep things clean at all times."

He smiled at me. "Before you ask, yes it's related to why he's different. I-"

Krory cut him off. "New vampires always spend their first few months fighting what they are, no matter how prepared they were beforehand. Someone like Allen, who was turned almost immediately after suffering a major trauma, would normally get violent and angry. Those are the vampires you hear about on the news, the ones who go on killing sprees. That's why it's illegal for doctors and emergency workers to turn patients."

"But that didn't happen to Allen." He clearly had never gone on a spree of any kind.

Alma nodded. "Because he's a Noah." _Well that answers the question of whether or not his friends know who he is._ "The power of that bloodline gave him control over the violence. However, unlike a normal new vampire, Allen took to it like a duck to water. He completely embraced what he was from the very beginning. It was like he was always meant to be a vampire."

Lavi punched him in the shoulder. "Focus, Alma."

"Right. Anyway, we've all got our own tastes, but to Allen, blood is just blood. He's got no preferences at all, sexual or otherwise. Because of that and his personality, Hevlaska matches him with humans who have never been bitten before and those who are especially skittish. She lets him use the back room because the privacy keeps the humans calm."

I didn't know if it was because I was there or because Allen wasn't, but his friends were being a lot more respectful than I expected them to be. "Why didn't he tell me any of this? And why hasn't he tried to bite me?"

They all laughed. Hard. Even Kanda snickered a little. So much for them being respectful. It was Lavi who finally spoke. "Allen's a _virgin_."

I blushed. That was _way_ too much information for a first date. "How is that supposed to be an answer?"

Alma placed a hand on my arm and leaned in a little too close. The guy seemingly had no respect for personal space. "He's not going to bite you because he _likes_ you. And he didn't tell you any of this because he didn't want to strain the relationship by talking about sex too soon."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	8. Allen's Friends, Part 2

Allen returned moments after Alma finished talking, which explained why his friends had all fallen silent. He kissed the top of Lenalee's head as he placed a plate down in front of her. She didn't pay much attention to the food, she was more intrigued by the martini glass he was offering. "Here, I thought you might need this."

She took the glass, sipping the bright green liquid tentatively. He wasn't wrong that the alcohol would help, though it actually would have been much more helpful _before_ the biting conversation, but the drink he had brought confused her immensely. It was a green apple martini, her favorite cocktail. But they had never talked about drinking before. "Thanks... But, how did you know what I would like?"

He looked embarrassed and Alma laughed. The purple haired vampire spoke into Lenalee's ear as he gave Allen his chair back. "He didn't. Hevlaska did. Her matchmaking power works on food and drinks just like it does on blood. That's why she tends the bar."

Lenalee's attention finally focused on the plate Allen had set down: it held a mountain of golden fries and a bacon cheeseburger. The burger made her mouth water just from looking at it. Allen forced Alma away from her, not caring that the other vampire lost his balance in the process. "I kinda forgot you needed dinner, otherwise I would have taken you someplace nicer than this."

She couldn't help smiling at the sheepish look he gave her. "Don't worry about it. I already spend too much time at fancy restaurants. This looks great."

"It should be." Lavi stole a few fries from the plate. "Kevin makes great burgers."

The redhead froze as he reached for more fries. He let out a long, slow whistle. The others all turned to see the hot blonde he was making eyes at. After yelling, "Strike!" he got up from the table.

Lenalee turned her focus towards the table, mildly put off by the fact that the boys were still ogling the girl. "So what-?"

Allen smiled softly as he stuck a few fries in her open mouth. "Ssshhh. This is the good part!"

Curious as to what he meant, Lenalee turned back towards Lavi. They watched the redhead as he made his way through the crowd towards the blonde. He paused for a moment to adjust his hair, and then he approached her. It was too loud in the bar for the humans to hear, but the vampires all snickered when he said, "Can I borrow a quarter? I need to call my mother and tell her I found the girl I'm going to marry."

The blonde gave him a very disgusted look, scoffed, and turned away. Lavi didn't give up though. He moved back into her line of sight. "Come on, babe, I'm serious! There's something wrong with my cell phone. It doesn't have your number in it."

"Back off, creep." When he tried to follow her again, she threw her drink in his face.

Lavi returned to the table, and everyone moved to make it look like they weren't watching. He looked around, noted the half hidden smirks, and flopped into an empty chair. "Come on guys! Was it really that bad?"

Lenalee picked up her burger and took a big bite so she wouldn't have to answer. The others laughed at the redhead. Hard. Lavi shook his head at his friends. "You guys are mean. What about you Lenalee? My stuff's not as bad as they think, right?"

She laughed with her mouth full and ended up choking a little. "Dude, your lines are awful."

Her reaction disappointed the redhead and he sulked at her. "How can you say that? You didn't even hear them!"

Lenalee flung a fry at him. "I didn't have to. I've been hearing them for the past six months."

"But you said that they were cute!"

"I was humoring you so that I could pay for my books and leave." Lenalee smirked at him and took another bite of her burger.

The guys all laughed at the look on Lavi's face. All of them, and especially Allen, enjoyed seeing the redhead get taken down by Lenalee. Alma placed his hands on Lavi's shoulders. "See? We weren't lying when we said you suck at flirting."

Lavi crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at the wall. "Fine, fine. Can we change the subject now?"

"Of course!" Alma grinned. "So, Lenalee, how many guys did you date before our little Allen?"

Lenalee almost choked on another mouthful of food. She narrowed her eyes at the purple haired vampire. "I haven't told _him_ that yet. What makes you think I'd tell you?"

Allen frowned at his friend. "Al-ma! You promised to be nice."

The table fell silent for a moment before Lavi smirked; he was back to his usual self now that the attention was on someone else. "Well _I_ made no such promise. If you want me to keep your secrets and not pester her with embarrassing questions, then it's gonna cost you."

Lenalee smirked back. "And if you don't want me to tell him what you've already spilled, you'll shut up and do what he wants."

Alma oohed and Krory laughed. Lavi turned beet red and clasped his hands over his mouth. That was three times now that the new girl had made him feel stupid. "I'll just be shutting up now."

Allen smiled and leaned over to kiss Lenalee on the cheek. "You're amazing."

She hid her blush behind another bite of her burger. The boys began talking about something trivial, taking the unspoken hint that Lenalee wanted to be left alone while she finished eating.

When she was done, she sipped at her cocktail and leaned back in her chair. Allen's right hand found her left, and their fingers entwined. Seeing that her food was gone, the boys let their conversation drop, and once again, everyone's attention was on Lenalee. Lavi was the first to come up with a topic that he hoped wouldn't piss Allen off. "So, Lenalee. This has been nagging at me since the subject came up earlier. Have you ever been bitten?"

She frowned at her lap. "Once, when I was seven."

The three vampires all winced at the young age. Alma patted her shoulder. "What happened?"

Lenalee shuddered as the memory of the night her parents died flashed through her head. Her mumbled, "I don't want to talk about it", was drowned out by the sound of a chair clattering to the ground.

She looked up to see Allen visibly shaking. He was holding his right hand like it had been electrically shocked. He was glaring death at Alma and spoke through gritted teeth. "Why would you do that?"

Alma backed away from Lenalee quickly, moving around the table to hide behind Kanda. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything by it! It was an accident! I swear!"

Krory cleared his throat and forcibly changed the topic of conversation. "So Miss Lenalee, you're a senior, right? What are you studying?"

"Sociology. I'd like to work with foster children when I graduate." She answered the question, but couldn't help staring at Allen as he collected himself and righted his chair. He sat down but he didn't take her hand again.

The boys made generic conversation about their majors and school experiences, but Lenalee wasn't paying attention to what they were saying. She leaned towards Allen and whispered, "What just happened?"

It was clear that whatever it was had hit him hard. He was still shaking slightly as he shook his head at her. "Later."

She didn't press the issue. It was weird for her to see Allen freaked out like that. The Allen she knew was never fazed by anything.

With the subject effectively switched away from Lenalee's experience with vampire bites, the lively mood returned. Allen's friends began to act like they would if she wasn't there. Lenalee couldn't help watching their every move. They were clearly all normal twenty-somethings, despite the fact that at least two of them were immortal.

Lavi left the table a few more times to flirt with random women, but he always struck out and came back. Krory went off with a girl to have a drink. And the way Alma openly and incessantly flirted with Kanda even though the guy was clearly not interested, was both appalling and intriguing to Lenalee.

After hanging on the back of the Japanese man's chair didn't work, Alma went and sat on Kanda's lap. The navy haired man growled and shoved him off immediately. "Get the fuck off me. Do you want to get stabbed?"

Unfazed, Alma leaned in close and ran a hand up Kanda's thigh. His voice was husky and laced with sexual innuendo. "Absolutely. You can stab me with your weapon anytime, anywhere."

He suddenly gasped and doubled over, recoiling in pain from the punch Kanda delivered to his solar plexus. "Moron. Say that again and I'll hit somewhere a lot further south than that."

Alma looked as if he were going to do something that would get him hit again, but he was interrupted by Allen. The younger's tone was authoritative, like he was talking to a small child. "Alma. Sit down in your own chair. I don't want to have to clean up your blood."

The purple haired vampire sulked, but did what he was told. Allen's premonitions were not to be messed with. Kanda focused his glare on Allen. "Damn it, Moyashi. You ruined my fun. You're not supposed to use your power on us."

Allen stuck his tongue out at the Japanese man. "It reacts to violence all on its own. It's not my fault you set it off, Bakanda."

"You didn't have to warn the idiot! You could have let me teach him a lesson first!" The glare morphed into a scowl. At this point Kanda knew that Allen was right, and he was simply arguing because he could.

"And let you get us kicked out of the bar?" Allen's raised eyebrow was immediately followed by a snort. "No thank you. I've been kicked out of enough places for one day."

Kanda scoffed. "Like you've ever been thrown out of anywhere in your entire life. You'd just charm your way out of it, like you do with everything else."

"Actually, I can think of at least three gambling halls that he's not allowed to show his face at anymore." Lavi corrected.

Lenalee had been following the conversation fairly well up to that point, but now she was confused. "Why would you have gotten thrown out of a gambling hall?"

Allen blanched at the question. The others all laughed in amusement. Alma began petting Lenalee's hair. "So pretty."

She shoved him away. "Allen?"

The white haired vampire sighed and slumped back in his chair. "I may as well tell you. It's not like you haven't already seen that side of me."

Allen smiled darkly at her. "I am _really_ good at cards. I never lose. Ever."

"Because you cheat." Lenalee caught what he hadn't said yet. It wasn't hard to put together, and it answered one of the questions she had forgotten to ask him the other day: Allen's card skills were the reason the Noah had recruited him.

"Yeah." This smile wasn't sheepish or embarrassed, it was proud. "I-"

"And that's enough of that." Krory received a glare from Allen when he interrupted. "She's got the picture now. There's no need for you to regale us with any of your gambling stories."

"Seriously buddy, we don't want to hear them." Lavi messed up Allen's hair, causing him to scowl.

Lenalee frowned. That was really odd. She thought that Allen's friends would want to try to embarrass him with those stories.

Allen swatted Lavi away and smoothed out his hair. He caught the slightest hint of concern on Kanda's face and realized what he'd almost accidentally said. "Fine. I get it. You don't like my stories. Killjoys."

Alma spoke quickly to keep the conversation going. "I guess that makes it your turn to ask the questions, Lenalee. Anything you want to know about us?"

She blushed lightly at being put on the spot, and asked the first question she could think of. "How do you all know each other?"

The innocent question was met with silence. They hadn't expected her to go straight to something so complicated. It wasn't like they could tell her they were all FBI consultants. And it wasn't until that moment that it occurred to them that they should have come up with a cover story to give her.

Allen laughed briefly before he started talking. The others sat back and let the professional liar make something up. If his story was believable then they'd go along with it. "Kanda runs a dojo. We've all taken classes from him over the past couple years."

Lenalee eyed the Japanese man skeptically. With his long navy hair pulled up into a ponytail, black trench coat, and torn jeans, he didn't fit her image of a martial arts master. "Really?"

Lavi laughed, he could tell what she was thinking; he'd thought it too when he first met Kanda. "Kanda's the best in the area. He's who you want to go to if you want to learn to defend yourself against vampires. The techniques he's developed are top notch."

It was an offhanded comment, not something he normally would have said in front of Kanda, but that didn't make it any less true. However, it did something that no one expected: it gave Alma an idea.

The purple haired vampire's eyes sparkled as he whispered something in Allen's ear. Allen shoved him away. "What? No way!"

Having heard the whisper, Krory spoke up. "That's actually not a bad idea." He said more, but he spoke lower than the humans could hear.

The three vampires proceeded to hold an inaudible conversation. It continued until Lavi got fed up. "Alright! That's enough of the secret vampire talk. Time to share with the rest of the group!"

There was one more whisper from Alma. Allen threw up his hands in defeat and scowled at him. "Fine! Fine! I see your point! But _you_ have to suggest it. I'm not going to do it."

Alma smiled brightly at Kanda, making the Japanese man scowl and scoot away. "What the fuck do you want?"

The purple haired vampire sighed inwardly at the missed opportunity to flirt; he needed to focus on the issue at hand. "It occurred to me that maybe you would want to find some time in your schedule for her," he gestured at Lenalee. "She could probably use some self-defense training given what she does for a living."

It was a much more reasonable request than he had been expecting, and Kanda agreed on the spot. "I can do that."

Allen blinked; he didn't expect Kanda to be interested in doing him a favor. "Really?"

The Japanese man smirked at the vampire's surprise. "I assume you'll be paying me of course."

"Of course." Allen sighed. He should have known Kanda would have conditions. Money was at least a fair one. "Will Tuesday and Thursday mornings work?"

Kanda pulled out his cell phone and clicked through his calendar. "I can fit her in at either eight or eleven."

"Better do it at eight. She's got a class at noon."

Lenalee looked back and forth between the two. Everything was done and arranged before she had even processed that they were talking about her. "What did I just get signed up for?"

Her question received laughter as a response. After it was explained to her, she sighed. Their logic was hard to argue with, and she had to admit that the idea of self-defense classes intrigued her. Though she was unsure whether she should be be impressed or miffed that Allen knew her schedule that well.

She pulled out her phone to write it down, and gasped when she saw the time. "Is it really ten?"

Allen leaned over and looked at the display. "Apparently. I guess we should be getting you home."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	9. Goodnight

Allen pulled the car into a vacant spot. We sat there a moment before he spoke. "...Do you want me to walk you up, or would you rather say good night here?"

I pondered the question for a second before I recalled something that had happened earlier that required an explanation, and I wanted one. "Before we get into that, what happened earlier? When you freaked out at the bar. What was that all about?"

He sighed and turned the car off. "Honestly, I'd rather not tell you."

I frowned, disappointed in his answer. I was curious to know, but if he didn't want to tell me, then I wouldn't push him.

Allen sighed again and ran his hand through his white hair. "On the other hand, this is something that I don't want you to hear from anyone else, and I don't think I'll ever have a better reason to tell you. But this isn't something we can talk about in my car. Can we go upstairs?"

That wasn't what I was expecting him to say, I hadn't thought the incident was _that_ serious. But as long as he was willing to explain then that didn't matter. "Sure."

He waved at the landlady as we passed her apartment, and that reminded me of something else that had been said at the bar that night. "So, how do you know Anita? And how'd you convince her to let you into my apartment?"

The smile he gave me was full of laughter. "Have you met her fiancé yet?"

I frowned at the attempt at misdirection, but I still answered the question. "Not officially. I've seen him around though. He's a flamboyant guy with long red hair, right?"

Allen laughed and winced at the same time. "Yeah. His name's Cross Marian. For lack of a better word, he's my stepfather."

I froze in place halfway up the stairs. "What?!"

"Cross was really good friends with Mana and Neah. He took me under his wing when they died." Allen smiled at me and tugged on my hand to get me moving again. "Anyway, to get back to your original question, I bumped into Anita when I was leaving last week, so she knew about what happened. That night I was sitting outside your door, waiting for you to get home, and she walked by and let me in."

"Isn't that like a breach of privacy or something? I should talk to her."

"You should. But not about that." He smiled brightly at me. "You two have a lot in common."

I blinked at him. The only thing I had in common with Anita was that we were both of Chinese descent, and that wasn't anything special. "What do you mean?"

"She's a human dating a vampire."

"Oh." That made sense. I didn't know if I actually would talk to her about that, but I filed the information away for if I ever needed advice.

We paused at my door and I let us inside. Allen took off his boots in the entryway, which was odd. He hadn't done that before, and it wasn't something that I did. I offered to make us some tea, and while I did that, he wandered into the living room.

When I followed with our cups, I found him sitting in front of my bookshelf. His eyes sparkled as he looked up at me. "Wow. Lavi wasn't kidding. You really do like the same books as me."

He asked my opinions on some of the ones he hadn't read, and gave me his on those I hadn't gotten to yet. It was a sweet moment, but it wasn't what I really wanted to talk about. I took the book he was holding and slid it back onto the shelf. "So..."

"Ah, right." Allen stood up and moved over to the couch. I sat beside him, not right next to him, but close enough that holding hands wouldn't be awkward. "So, what happened at the bar... Well, I told you that I inherited Mana's power, right?"

I nodded. "You did."

"Ok, well, the psychic thing works on its own. I see when something bad is about to happen, but I don't have any control over it. I think I might have told you that already too." His gaze was locked on the mug of tea in his lap, so he didn't see me nod. "Anyway, Mana's power works through touch. For the most part I'm able to choose when I use it, but sometimes, or rather, under certain conditions, it'll activate on its own."

I raised an eyebrow at him in curiosity. "And that's what happened in the bar?"

He nodded, his white hair falling into his face a little. "Right."

Allen suddenly gripped his mug tighter, and the words that came out were angry. "Alma should have known better than to ask you that while we were holding hands. I can't believe he did that."

"Huh?"

"Oh, sorry." He blinked as he realized he'd gotten ahead of himself. "It's the combination of touch and extreme emotion that sets it off. So when Alma asked about the time you were bitten as a child, you recalled a horrible memory, and your emotional response made my power activate."

"So why did you react like you did? And how did you know that that memory was horrible?" It hadn't escaped my notice that he still hadn't told me what his power was.

He shrugged and smiled lightly at me. "You were bitten as a child; it's akin to being molested."

I hadn't thought about it like that before, but it was an appropriate comparison. There was something off in the way he said it though. "Allen... You were...?"

I couldn't finish the question; asking Allen if he was molested was much too horrible to say out loud.

His smile faded. "It's a long story; we don't need to get into it now, or ever. But since I know you won't drop it, the short answer is yes."

"Allen..."

"Don't give me that look. I already told you that I had a crappy childhood before Mana took me in. This isn't new information." He sighed. "Besides, my traumatic childhood isn't the issue here, _yours_ is."

"I wouldn't call my childhood 'traumatic', and that isn't what we were talking about either." He was getting off topic, and while I appreciated the honesty he was giving, I was annoyed that he continued to dodge the one question I really wanted the answer to.

Allen set his mug down on the coffee table with a heavy sigh. "Actually, it is. You see, Mana's power gives me the ability to see the past."

"Wait. You mean that you ... you saw what happened to me?" I didn't know if that was relieving or if it was a reason to panic.

"Yes and no." He sighed yet again. "When I touch people or objects, I can see scenes from their past. And obviously it's not that straightforward, but that's too complicated to get into. Sometimes all I get is flashes of emotion. Which is what happened tonight at the bar. So: what happened to you when you were a child?"

.x.x.

The answer I got wasn't what I was expecting in the slightest. I hadn't thought that Lenalee would have actually had a traumatic experience. I'd been acting like she did, more to downplay my own childhood than because of anything she might have gone through. I was just being nice so that she'd tell me what had upset her so much.

I watched a thousand different emotions flicker across her face before she finally settled on one that was full of fear. "I watched my parents get murdered."

"Oh god. I'm so sorry."

She frowned at me. "I don't want your fake sympathy. I-"

"No." I couldn't help interrupting her. "That's not what I meant. I'm sorry for asking you, I didn't intend to dredge up something so awful."

.x.x.

The apology threw me; I didn't know how to respond to it. But Allen fortunately kept talking and I didn't have to worry about it. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, but I would like to know what happened."

Allen pulled his legs onto the couch, turning so that he was sitting cross legged, facing me. He held his hands out to me, palms up. It was an invitation for me to touch him, so that he could see my past.

I sat there frozen. I had no clue if I wanted to let him know what I'd been through or if I wanted to keep it to myself. Allen dropped his hands and placed one on my knee. "I know this is hard for you, and I don't want to push you. But I also know that part of you thinks I'm lying about what I can do. I figured this would be the best way to ... prove myself to you."

The words confused me. "Allen. You don't have to prove anything to me."

"I feel like I do. The last time we sat here like this, you accused me of keeping secrets from you. And there are a lot of things that I can't be completely honest with you about. But this isn't one of them."

I frowned, things had gotten uncomfortably deep. "Is this really a first date conversation?"

Allen laughed lightly. "What about everything that happened at the bar earlier? Or everything that we've talked about in the past week? It's been two months since we first met, and you already know me as well as my friends do. Maybe even better. I even told you that I was molested as a child. We passed 'first date conversation' a long time ago."

"Oh god, you're right." I buried my face in my hands, disturbed by the realization. "This may have been our first date, but we've been a couple for three weeks now, haven't we?"

"It's creepy when you say it like that, but yes." He paused and gave me a weird look. "Why three weeks?"

"There was a whole lot of stuff that happened between us that weekend, but mostly because that's when Road first called me your girlfriend. It's terrifying to think that she was right all along." Looking back, I could see it so clearly. The anger I had felt when I had learned that Allen was a Noah; that wasn't angry at a sort-of-friend, that was full on I-caught-my-boyfriend-lying-to-me betrayal.

"Well, when you put it like that..." Allen ran his free hand through his hair. "I guess you were right: I don't have to prove anything to you. This isn't about trying to get a second date, but about getting closer to my girlfriend."

My heart skipped a beat when he called me that. Allen pulled his hand off my knee, and offered me his hands once again. "So, will you let me, your boyfriend, get to know you better?"

"I don't really have a choice when you say it like that now, do I?" I slipped off my shoes and mimicked his cross legged position. He smiled reassuringly at me, and I placed my hands in his.

I don't know what I was expecting to happen, but it wasn't: nothing. Allen's eyes glazed over momentarily, then they went wide with panic and he dropped my hands. "Allen?"

He blinked a few times before staring at me with that kicked puppy expression he was so good at. "I don't know whether I should hug you or give you your space. I mean, I knew you hated vampires, but I thought it was because you were misinformed. I had no idea that there was an actual reason."

He babbled on a bit more before he calmed down. I didn't interrupt, but then I didn't know what to say. I had no clue what was going on. Eventually, the kicked puppy look turned into a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I got a little carried away. When I see someone's past, I'm seeing it through their eyes. Witnessing a violent crime through the eyes of a seven year old was hard. You are amazing. To have survived all that, and become such a wonderful woman..."

He reached out like he was going to touch my cheek, but froze just inches away. "Allen?"

His fingers curled into his palm and the kicked puppy look came back. "How are you ok with this? With me? With what I am? You watched a vampire kill your parents! How are you dating me?"

I grabbed his hand and pulled it into my lap. "Allen. Calm down. Look at me." I waited until his expression softened before I continued. "I'm not going to lie, I'm scared. It's hard, but at the same time, it's not. You make it so easy to forget that you're not human. Because you are the exact opposite of everything I thought vampires were."

There was more I wanted to say, but I didn't know how to say it. And Allen had returned to himself. The hand that wasn't in my lap had been placed on my cheek like he had wanted to do earlier. He kissed me before the silence got awkward.

When we moved so that I was laying on the couch and he was on top of me, I briefly worried about him trying to take things too far, but it was _Allen_ ; he'd been scared of touching me just minutes before.

The make out session was wonderful, but it was far too short. It came to an abrupt end when his cell phone rang.

He pulled away from me with a groan, and fished his phone out of his pocket. The look on his face matched the annoyance I felt. "Why don't you just silence it?"

"Can't. I'm sup-" He looked at the caller ID and made a face. He sighed as he swiped the phone open. "Hey Tyki. What's up?"

The joking retort I had planned to give to Alma died in my throat. Something bad was brewing if Tyki was calling Allen. I lay there frozen while Allen nodded and made a few noises of understanding. "Got it."

He hung up and turned his attention back to me. He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that, but like I was trying to say: the Noah get really pissed when I don't answer my phone. I'm not allowed to silence it. And I do _not_ want to get another lecture from them."

Allen gave me one more kiss then he stood up. "Unfortunately, I have to go. There's a job for me to do."

"Now?" I sat up and followed him to the door. "But it's so late."

He laughed as he slipped his boots on. "For you humans maybe. But for vampires..."

"Right."

We kissed goodnight and then he was gone.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	10. Monday

A/N: To clarify something that a reviewer and my sister/proofreader were confused on: Allen has 3 vampire powers. Being psychic is his own natural ability, and seeing the past came from Mana. It's a secret that he also inherited Neah's, but I haven't decided what that specific power is yet (I'm hoping the manga will reveal something before I have to write that part of the story).

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Not long after Allen left, my phone rang. I glared at the caller ID. I was not in the mood to deal with Komui. But I had no choice; he'd go off into psycho-land if I didn't. "Hello?"

I immediately had to pull the phone away from my ear, he was yelling so loud. "MY DARLING PRECIOUS LENALEE! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!"

I rolled my eyes at the wall; apparently, Komui was already _in_ psycho-land. "What are you talking about?"

"YOU CAN'T BE DATING! YOU CAN'T!"

The sobbed words made me sigh in exasperation. "Komui, calm down!"

He mumbled and screeched some more things I couldn't make out. But I got the gist: he was upset over my date with Allen, which he had blown completely out of proportion. I pinched the bridge of my nose to calm myself down so that I wouldn't shout back at him. "Komui! Relax! It was one date. He took me to the zoo. We walked around and held hands. Nothing happened."

It was a lie, a whole lot had happened, but that was none of his business. And none of it was any of the things that Komui was worried about. Even if it was, I was twenty one; my older brother had no business worrying about my purity anymore. It was understandable back when I was a teenager and living under his roof, but I was an adult now, he no longer had the right to freak out because there was a possibility that I might have had sex.

After a few more assurances that Allen was a perfect gentleman, Komui calmed down. He was still crying, but the screaming had at least faded to a tolerable decibel. I answered his questions as best as I could, but some of them were just plain weird. There were also some that I just couldn't answer. "So what does this Allen do for a living?"

"Oh. Umm..." I couldn't tell him that Allen was an enforcer for the mob; Komui would explode if he heard that. The easiest lie would be to say that Allen worked at the restaurant, which was somewhat true. But that story would fall apart the next time Komui talked to Reever. So I settled for a different kind of lie. "I don't know. That didn't come up. I'll have to ask him next time I see him."

"You're planning on seeing him again?!"

I sighed and sank back into my couch. "Yes, Komui, I'm going to see him again. Even if the date hadn't gone well, I'd still have to see him. He's at the restaurant all the time."

My response was met with silence. I sighed again; I was tired of dealing with my brother and just wanted to sleep. "Look Komui, it's late. I need to go to bed-"

That comment set him off again. I rolled my eyes and screamed inwardly. "Komui! Nothing's going to happen! Allen already went home! Relax!"

It took ten minutes to calm him down and another five to finally get him to hang up. By the time I made it to bed, I crashed immediately; there was no time to dwell on any of the things that had happened that day.

.x.x.

Leaving Lenalee was hard. Especially when Tyki's "emergency" turned out to be nothing special. It took all of five minutes to deal with the guys he was having trouble with. I grumbled at Tyki as I followed him to his next job. "I don't see what the rush was. That could have waited until my date was over."

The dark haired vampire laughed at me. "Come on, Shounen, you can't fool me. We all know that you screwed it up."

I was completely offended by the comment. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

He laughed again. "It means that you said or did something that pissed her off, and she made you take her home before you even got to dinner."

"Hey! That's-"

Tyki continued to talk over my protest. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder like we were friends. "Really, Shounen. Trying to date a human is stupid. And _you_ trying to date a human is even stupider. You don't have to pretend that you didn't crash and burn. I bet she didn't even let you hold her hand."

"I got to second base, thank you very much!" I shoved him away roughly. "We were making out on her couch when you called!"

Tyki laughed and ruffled my hair. "That's cute, Shounen. But thanks for trying to make the lie believable. I'd have been insulted if you'd claimed to have gotten further than that."

I pushed him away once more. "Whatever. I don't care if you don't believe me. It happened."

"Sure it did. And the Earl takes vacations."

Tyki tormented me the rest of the night with snide comments about my "failed" date. It was honestly worse than if I would have rejoined my friends at the bar. They would have at least let me talk.

It was four in the morning when I was finally able to leave Tyki's company. I was mentally exhausted. Of course, once I was done assisting Tyki, I had my own tasks to attend to, and that was just as stressful. After two years, I was growing used to the undercover work, and that bothered me greatly. I hadn't crossed the line yet, which according to Cross I was still nowhere near, but it still worried me.

But on the other hand, I _really_ enjoyed playing poker.

.x.x.

When morning finally came around, it took all of my willpower to focus on my classes. So much had happened the day before, but school wasn't the time to dwell on those things.

Not that Allen was helping with my concentration issues. Every time my phone vibrated, it made last night's revelation all the more obvious: ever since we exchanged numbers, we'd been texting like we were dating. Eventually I gave up and turned the thing off. It was the only way to keep myself from responding to the messages that were simultaneously nonsensical and heartwarming. I knew that Allen would understand. School came first.

The first thing I did when I arrived at work was chew out Reever for telling my brother about Allen. My anger at him turned to anger at myself when I heard his response. "I'm sorry, but you've been dating the guy for weeks. I didn't realize it was a secret. I'll keep my mouth shut next time."

Apparently, Allen and I were the only ones who _hadn't_ known about our relationship.

In a repeat of the last couple days, Allen met me in the break room. I was wrapped in a tight hug and he pulled me into a kiss. "Sorry I had to leave like that last night."

"It's ok. You had a job to do." I kissed the scar on his forehead. "Oh, that reminds me: my brother asked me what you do for a living. I didn't know what to tell him..."

Allen gave me strange look, his white bangs falling into his eyes. "Why does he care?"

I laughed. "I told you that the day we met. Komui's a psycho when it comes to me and boys."

"Oh. Right." Allen sighed. His silver eyes darkened as he lost himself in thought. "Well, I usually tell people that I'm a vampire and I do whatever I want. Or I let them think that I'm still in high school. But your brother probably wouldn't like to hear either of those. I suppose the simplest answer is that I do odd jobs for my uncle."

"That should work." I kissed his scar again. "Thanks."

Allen pulled me in for a real kiss. "See you inside."

After he left, I put my things away and clocked in. I helped prep the restaurant for the dinner rush, and then I finally made my way to the Noah's room. I brought their drinks and took their order, all with the usual professionalism. Then something happened that hadn't happened in almost a month: Tyki made a pass at me.

I was so shocked that I dropped his drink. Allen was by my side in an instant, helping me pick up the broken glass. The look on his face said he was ready to hurt Tyki. But it was Road who spoke. "Tyki! How could you do that to Allen's girlfriend?!"

"What? We all know that their date went horribly. His story about making it to second base was obviously made up."

I was glad I was looking at the floor and they couldn't see me blush. As embarrassed as I was to hear the Noah talk about it, I was more embarrassed at myself for letting Allen take my shirt off in the first place. Though the look on Allen's face when he saw me topless was definitely worth it. And I had enjoyed letting him feel me up, so there truly wasn't anything to complain about.

Allen's protest was drowned out by Wisley, and I belatedly remembered that he could read my thoughts. "That wasn't a lie. They did get that far. Now can we change the subject? I don't want to hear any more of her memories from last night."

Lulubell voiced her agreement. I normally would have been offended by her tone, but I was too mortified to care that she was insulting me. "Please. We have better things to do than gossip about the waitress."

Tyki whined. "But if they're telling the truth, then that means there's a whole lot more we can tease him about."

Allen glared at him as we placed the last of the glass shards on my tray. "No. There's nothing more to talk about."

"Oh yes there is, Shounen. If-"

"Give it a rest, Tyki. Unless they slept together, we don't care." Everyone murmured their agreement with Sherril's statement.

The comment meant something different to me though. I frowned internally as I recalled what Lavi had said last night. Even with everything else that had happened it still seemed like too much information.

.x.x.

Wisley suddenly burst out laughing. I looked up in time to see Lenalee clasp her hands over her mouth. Her eyes grew wide and her cheeks burned red as our gazes locked. "Oh god! Oh god! I'm so sorry, Allen. But it's not my fault! Your friends said way too much last night!"

"Lenalee-?" She ran from the room before I could ask what happened. I mean, I knew what happened, I just didn't know what it was that Wisley had read in her thoughts.

I moved to follow her, but the words Wisley spoke stopped me in my tracks. "You're a _virgin_?"

If I were human, I probably would have passed out from a lack of oxygen. _If only it were that easy..._ Even though I knew what was coming next (and I didn't have to be psychic for that), I forced myself to remain calm and face him. I wasn't ashamed, it was a choice I willingly made, but that didn't mean I wasn't scared of their reactions. "Yes."

The rest of the vampires, including the stoic Lulubell, joined Wisley in his laughter. I just stood there, frozen in place, as one of my worst nightmares came true. It happened exactly like I had imagined it would too: Tyki and the Earl made sarcastic comments, most of which I couldn't make out because they were laughing so hard, the others were too disturbing to repeat. But the most embarrassing moment was when Road teleported into my personal space and offered to 'help me with my problem'. It made Sherril freak out, which only served to make the rest of the guys laugh even harder.

And when their fun and games were over, the lecture started. I had yet to hear it from them, but it went exactly the same as the ones from Cross, Alma, and Neah had. Though it was infinitely more mortifying hearing the Earl talk about that stuff. I stared at the wall, keeping silent and pleading for it to be over soon.

When it was finally done, I left the room as calmly as possible. I found Lenalee in the break room. I didn't really know what to say to her, but I knew that we had to talk. "Who told you?"

She looked conflicted, but she answered my question. "Lavi."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed the redhead's number. It unsurprisingly went to voicemail. I rolled my eyes at the cheesy message and waited for the beep. Keeping my voice level, I spoke. "I'm going to kill you."

As I clicked the phone off, I smiled at Lenalee. "I wish I could say that was a joke, but I'm pretty pissed at him right now."

She didn't smile back. Instead, she looked at me with an expression that was a mixture of fear and confusion. "What about me?"

I blinked at her. "Huh?"

"I'm the one who told the Noah. Aren't you mad at me too?"

"No." I sat down beside her and took her hand, threading our fingers together. "It's not reasonable to expect you to constantly guard your thoughts around them. So long as it was an accident, which you already said it was, then there's nothing to be mad at."

I could feel how nervous she was, her pulse was going crazy. She leaned against my shoulder and took a deep breath. "Is it true? That you've never...?"

"It is. Last night was the furthest I've ever been." There was no point in lying to her now; she already knew the embarrassing part.

She sighed and her pulse calmed down. "Me too."

"Really?" Her heartbeat said it was the truth, but I didn't believe her.

Lenalee laughed and shoved my shoulder. "Yes, really."

"How is that possible?"

"Allen!" The slight shriek she put into my name gave away how offended she was by what I'd said.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like _that_. It's just that ... Ok, fine. I don't know how I meant it, but it's hard to believe that someone as gorgeous as you hasn't been with a guy before."

She shoved me again. "And the last time we were in this room, I told you that my brother is psychotic. He's threatened guys just for telling me I look pretty, after baiting them into saying it. If he weren't stuck in another country, you'd have been scared off by now."

"Then I guess it's a good thing he's not here." I cupped the side of her face, then leaned closer and kissed her. It was deep and intense, and I had to remind myself that we were in a public place so that I wouldn't lose myself in her.

Lenalee's violet eyes were glazed when I let go of her, a sight I loved more every time I saw it. But then they suddenly snapped wide open. "We've been sitting here for half an hour?!"

I laughed and kissed her gently. "Not quite. I've only been here for about five minutes. But if this is where you've been since you ran off earlier, then half an hour sounds about right. The Earl can get pretty talkative when he's lecturing me."

"They were lecturing you? What for?" I knew she was remembering the last time they'd chewed me out.

"Nothing important." _Add one more thing to the list of things I've half-lied to Lenalee about._ "Just the usual things that they think I don't know because I'm young."

Lenalee brushed her fingers through my hair. "Sorry. That must have been frustrating."

"More like mortifying." I sighed and pulled her hand from my head as I stood up. "I really don't want to go back in there."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	11. Training Day

A/N: Allen and Kanda talk to each other in Japanese in this chapter. It got tedious saying every single time that they were talking in Japanese, so I made up formatting for it. Dialogue in parentheses, like this: "(Hello!)" is the character talking in Japanese.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Seven am on Tuesday came much too early. It felt like I had gotten no sleep at all. The blaring alarm startled me so badly that I literally fell out of bed. I collected myself and stumbled to the bathroom. Splashing water on my face helped me wake up. I wanted to shower, but that seemed like a waste of effort since I was going to go workout.

Making my way back to the bedroom, I dressed in the clothes I had picked out the night before. The tank top and capris weren't exactly workout clothes, but they would do until I knew what exactly I was supposed to wear. I could move in them, and they wouldn't be too revealing. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass myself in front of one of my boyfriend's best friends.

Once I was dressed, I went out to the kitchen and whipped up a light breakfast of yogurt and granola. I knew I needed to eat something, but I didn't want to eat too much and make myself sick. The butterflies in my stomach weren't helping with that.

With breakfast eaten, all I had left to do was wait for Allen. I tried to sit patiently, but I was too full of nervous energy. I had been told nothing beyond, "it's a private self-defense lesson", and that lack of knowledge was really stressing me out. I double and triple checked my bag, and dumped out and refilled my water bottle. I wanted to be prepared for any possibility.

Allen knocked on my door promptly at 7:35, exactly like he said he would. I had tried to convince him that he didn't need to pick me up, but he was insistent. Apparently, since it was his friend's idea and I was roped into it partially against my will, he felt responsible for me.

He kissed me and told me I looked great, and then we were on our way.

.x.x.

Kanda's dojo was very simple. White walls, tatami mats, equipment in the corners, but nothing in the way of decorations. There was a trophy case in the reception area, full to the brim with the trophies and ribbons the Japanese man had won at the various competitions he'd participated in. They were there more for publicity than because he actually cared about them. Winning was enough satisfaction for him, the awards held no value other than to keep people coming for classes.

It fascinated Lenalee though. She peered into the case, trying to read every inscription. "Wow. So you weren't exaggerating when you said this guy is good."

Allen merely shrugged. "Kanda really is the best."

There was a snicker from the door to the back rooms. "Is that a compliment, Moyashi?"

"Of course not, Bakanda." The white haired vampire made a face.

Kanda rolled his eyes, and then stared critically at Lenalee. Her long hair was tied up out of her face, but she wasn't exactly dressed properly. "Is that what you're wearing?"

She nodded warily at his gruff tone. "This was the best outfit I had in my closet. I didn't want to go buy anything until I knew what I needed."

"Alright then." Kanda nodded once. This girl was too smart to be dating the Moyashi. "The locker room is to the right. Pick any empty bin for your bag and shoes."

As soon as she disappeared around the corner, Kanda started speaking to Allen in Japanese. "(I know you're on the fence about this, Moyashi, but Alma told Cross and Teidoll, and they think it's a great idea.)"

Allen rolled his eyes. "(Of course they do. They probably want you to use the time to keep an eye on me.)"

"Che." The brat wasn't that far off. "(Teidoll said to consider it part of my job as your handler. I'm supposed to watch your girlfriend for signs that you're getting in too deep.)"

"(Teidoll worries too much.)"

Kanda scoffed. "(At least you'll be free of him someday. I moved out of his house almost a decade ago, and he still treats me like a child.)"

When Lenalee returned, uncomfortable and barefoot, she was taken aback to hear the two talking in a language she didn't recognize. She wasn't sure if she should interrupt or wait for them to finish, it seemed important. But standing there was awkward, so she settled for clearing her throat.

The conversation immediately stopped. Kanda tilted his head at her. "If you're ready, let's get started."

Lenalee nodded shakily and followed him out onto the dojo floor. Kanda had her sit across from him. He went through the things he was planning to instruct her in and what he expected from her. Allen interrupted frequently to reword things he thought Lenalee wouldn't understand.

Eventually, Kanda had enough of his 'help'. "Moyashi. Shut up or leave."

Lenalee smiled at the pouting glare Allen gave the Japanese man. But he did what he was told.

When the talking was done, Kanda guided Lenalee through a basic warm up routine. He watched her with the eye of a professional, gauging how strong and flexible she was so that he could know how much she could handle. All his planning would go out the window if she wasn't in decent shape. Allen's thoughts were a little less pure; he was watching his girlfriend while thinking of nothing but how gorgeous she was.

The rest of the lesson passed quickly. Lenalee took to everything she was taught much faster than Kanda had anticipated. And he had the bruises to prove it. She'd gotten more than one lucky shot in.

Afterwards, they ran through a basic meditation exercise. Kanda told her it was a cool-down technique, but he had an ulterior motive. The mediation techniques would help Lenalee strengthen her mind and guard her thoughts around Wisley and his mind-reading abilities.

Allen gave Lenalee a brief hug when the lesson was done. "So, how was it?"

She shrugged. "It wasn't quite what I expected. It seemed really ... simple."

He laughed. "That's because you're a girl. Kanda always goes easy on girls."

"That's not true, Moyashi."

Allen laughed more. "Fine. He always goes easy on _human_ girls. If you were a vampire he'd have worked you till you dropped."

"Baka." Kanda rolled his eyes. He turned to Lenalee. "He thinks he's funny. The truth is that it was your first lesson. It'll get harder now that I have a better idea of what you're capable of."

"I don't know if I like the sound of that." She frowned slightly. "Will we be getting to the vampire stuff soon? We didn't get to that today."

"Eventually." Her frowned deepened at the noncommittal response.

Allen smiled at her reaction. "Kanda wants to make sure you know the basics before you get into that. It's pretty advanced."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." She frowned again. "But that's going to be a lot of lessons isn't it?"

This time it was Kanda's turn to laugh. "Don't worry about it, the Moyashi's footing the bill, so the only thing it costs you is time."

Allen smirked. "Technically, it's the Noah that are paying for this. I'm using the account they gave me. It's kind of poetic."

While Lenalee laughed, Kanda hissed at Allen in Japanese. "(Are you insane?! Don't they watch that account?!)"

"(That's why I did it! She was going to end up telling them about it, and then they'd want to know how I was paying for it! It was much less of a hassle for it be their money in the first place!)"

"(What happens when the two of you break up?)"

Allen shrugged. "(Sherril thought this whole thing was a great idea. They'll probably continue to pay for the lessons themselves.)" He noticed Lenalee was watching, so he quickly switched back to English. "Mind your own business, Bakanda."

Lenalee smiled nervously. She may not have understood their actual words, but she was smart enough to know that they were talking like that for her benefit; it was more of that 'she was safer if she didn't know' stuff.

"Back on subject," Kanda paused to glare at Allen, "it takes six to eight weeks to get through the basics. With how today went, it will probably be closer to six for you. But the brat wasn't lying when he said that the vampire techniques are hard."

She nodded in understanding. "Do they work?"

"Of course." Kanda was tempted to roll his eyes at the stupidity of the question. "I have never lost a fight with a vampire."

"Hey!" Allen was very offended by the assertion. " _I_ beat you."

Kanda shrugged. "You don't count, you cheated."

Allen blinked at him. "'Cheated'? How exactly did I cheat?"

"Che." It was almost laughter. "You're _psychic_. It's not exactly a fair fight when you know what I'm going to do before I do it."

Allen was unimpressed. "That just means you didn't try hard enough."

The pen the Japanese man threw was easily dodged. Allen grinned cheekily at him. Lenalee merely rolled her eyes. _Boys_.

.x.x.

~Three Years Earlier~

Kanda stood in the gym, staring impassively at the two dozen FBI agents that he was teaching. It hadn't escaped the Japanese man's notice that his adoptive father and the man's redheaded partner were standing in the back, observing the class.

The students were all sitting cross-legged on the floor, waiting for him to start the day's lesson. All except one anyway. The white haired kid was leaning back on his hands and staring lazily out the window.

Allen Walker had been pushing his buttons since day one. And the feeling was mutual. Whenever Kanda picked on his scrawny appearance, the kid talked back, and in Japanese no less, which was made all the more frustrating for Kanda by the fact that the brat was more fluent than he was, and he was the native speaker. Add in the Japanese man's dislike of vampires, and the pair seemed destined to never get along. And it was no secret; the whole office knew that the two hated each other.

When Kanda finished sizing the group up, he immediately picked on Allen. "Moyashi! Since you clearly feel like I'm wasting your time, why don't you get your butt up here and show everyone what you've learned."

Allen complied warily. He was certain that whatever the Japanese man had planned would end up embarrassing him. And if it didn't, then Cross would make sure it did. _Why did he have to choose today of all days to observe me_?

The Japanese man smirked when the obnoxious teenager stood in front of him. He was finally going to silence the brat, and he was going to do it with his own two hands.

Allen was curious when Kanda proposed a sparring match, but that died when he learned who he'd be fighting. Sure, he was well versed in the ways of self-defense, but that didn't mean that he felt like he could take on a martial arts master. On the other hand, the opportunity to potentially take that idiot Kanda down a peg was too good to pass up.

The other students scooted back to give them some room. Allen and Kanda faced each other, bowed, and then took up ready stances. They threw a few exploratory punches, before moving on to the more intense moves. Kanda's technique far outshone Allen's, but the kid blocked or dodged every hit he tried. It was hard to tell who had the upper hand.

But then Kanda was on the ground, pinned in place by Allen. Cross and Teidoll started the applause to end the fight, otherwise it probably would have kept going. The class joined in, but neither of the two fighters moved. Cross almost laughed. "Walker! Let him up."

At Cross's voice, Allen was startled back to the present. He backed away carefully, still glaring at Kanda. The Japanese man grumbled and hissed a couple insults under his breath. Teidoll smiled knowingly. "Now, now, Yuu. Behave yourself. There's no need to be rude."

Kanda made a face at him and got to his feet, attempting to regain his professional image. "I can't believe I lost to the damn Moyashi."

"Hey! My name's Allen, Bakanda! Get it right!"

Cross and Teidoll both laughed at the interaction between the pair. The frizzy haired man spoke through laughter-induced tears. "What is it you always tell your classes, Yuu? 'Vampires are tricky, so be careful to not let your guard down around them'? Well, you lost to Allen because you let your guard down."

"What does that have to do with anything? Crazy old man." Kanda turned his glare from Allen to Teidoll and back, only to make a face when the white haired vampire stuck his tongue out at him.

"It means that you were always going to lose." Teidoll ignored the insult; he believed it to be a term of endearment.

"What do me losing and that brat being a vampire have to do with each other?" Kanda growled. This was one of the things he hated most about Teidoll, the frizzy haired man always tried to turn everything into a teachable moment instead of just saying things straight out.

Cross snickered at the way Allen smirked at Kanda with his fangs bared. "'That brat' is psychic."

Allen's smirk fell. "Don't use that word."

He was ignored. Kanda turned his glare on Cross, who spoke over whatever the Japanese man was about to say. "If you had paid better attention to him you might have known that."

Kanda gave Allen a disgusted look. "(If you're _psychic_ , what the hell are you doing in a self-defense class?)"

Allen glared at him. "(First of all: I didn't know until just now that my ability would work like that. And second: attendance for your class was _mandatory_. We were all _ordered_ to be here.)"

The thinly veiled insult was caught and understood. And Kanda was pissed. "(Take that back, Moyashi!)"

"(Never! And for the millionth time, my name is Allen! Bakanda!)"

Cross and Teidoll shared a look before turning back to the pair who were still bickering in Japanese. One of the braver students found their voice. "Umm, Agent Cross, sir? They always do that. If you just wait a few minutes, they'll get bored and stop."

The senior agents didn't want to wait. Cross glared at the pair once more and bellowed, "Walker! My office! Now!"

Allen froze mid-sentence. He forced himself to turn and face the redhead. "Sir?"

"You heard me! Get your butt over there this instant!"

The white haired vampire bolted from the room in his hurry to not piss Cross off further. Kanda snickered slightly but was silenced by a sound that made his blood run cold. "Oh, Yuu~."

Teidoll's tone was sickly sweet. It meant he wanted something and wouldn't take no for an answer. "We need you to come with us too."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	12. Love

A/N: This is really short, but I figured you'd rather have a third of the usual length over no chapter at all. ;) I'm writing a major plot arc, and it's giving me major problems. Hopefully I'll have gotten it worked out by the time the next chapter's due.

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Now that I was officially dating Allen, a few new things were added to my routine. On top of my usual work schedule, classes, and study groups, I now had self-defense classes twice a week, date night on Sundays, and drinks with Allen's friends after work on Thursdays.

I don't think I'll ever know how Alma got my cell phone number, but suffice it to say, it was not from Allen; it was definitely not my boyfriend's idea for me to start hanging out with his friends. Despite his initial reluctance, we both enjoyed it. With how quickly things between us had progressed, and how stressful our jobs were, it was nice to have that time to just relax. Plus, once I got used to their quirks, I actually really liked Allen's friends.

After two weeks, the self-defense classes were going well. And I was enjoying it too; I wouldn't necessarily call it fun, but it served a very valuable purpose in my life. Kanda had actually told me I was doing well, and he didn't seem like one to give compliments unless he actually meant them. I could tell that I was improving, I felt stronger and more flexible; work wasn't as physically draining as it used to be.

Things between me and Allen were going pretty well too. I literally saw him every day, though that changed a little once I convinced him that he didn't need to escort me to Kanda's dojo for every single class. Despite all of that, Allen remained an enigma. When it was just the two of us, he was kind and sweet, a perfect gentleman. When we were out with his friends, he was a normal guy: he laughed and drank and joked around. But then there was who he was when he was with the Noah.

Like the rest of them, Allen could go from laughing and joking to dead serious in the blink of an eye. He'd been their top enforcer for six weeks, and his reputation was already as bad as Skinn's; all of the lower level family members were scared to death of him. In a way, it was funny: he was this harmless looking teenager that no one ever gave a second glance, until they learned his name. I once saw a grown man run away crying the second Allen introduced himself.

But whenever I thought about it logically, it was terrifying. I witnessed my boyfriend, the man I loved, inflict pain on people on a daily basis. I could justify it, the people he was hurting weren't innocent by any means, but after everything I'd seen, I knew that he wasn't either. I was dating a criminal.

My notebook became a source of internal conflict: it would be a valuable tool for taking down the Noah, but it would also lead to Allen's arrest. I knew he would testify against the Noah and go into witness protection, he'd told me so himself when I confessed that I was thinking about stopping; but it was still a source of discomfort.

.x.x.

Thursday night marked the first time I saw Allen bite someone. It was a very traumatic experience, just not for anyone other than me.

We were out at the bar with his friends, and instead of taking the young woman to the back room, like he had always had before then, she requested that they stay in the main room. They moved to a couple tables away, probably for my sake, but I still had a clear view of Allen sinking his fangs into the blonde girl's wrist.

I had sort of gotten used to the idea that my boyfriend drank blood. And I saw quite a bit of biting happening around me at the bar. My initial fear of vampires was almost completely gone; I had never once seen a human incapacitated in any of my trips to the bar, and that had gone a long way towards convincing me that everything Allen had told me was true.

But this was different. Actually _seeing_ Allen drink someone's blood was definitely shocking. I had a hard time kissing him good night that night; it scared me that his fangs were so close to me. I ended up pulling away much sooner than I normally would.

But Allen seemed to know exactly what had freaked me out. He laughed lightly and kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I would never bite you without your permission, you know that, right?"

I smiled weakly at him. "I know. It's just-"

"Lena, I know what you've been through. You don't have pretend you're not scared." He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into a hug. "I love you. I promise I'll try to be understanding, but you have to tell me if things get too weird for you, ok?"

 _Did he just say he loved me?_ I blinked at him. "Allen, what was that you just said?"

It was almost funny the way his eyes suddenly got huge. If he were human, he probably would have been beet red, though the slight pink that did cover his cheeks was beautiful. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally found words. "I- I... Do you want me to say it again or do you want to pretend I never said it?"

I wasn't sure what to say to that. My heart was beating so rapidly that it felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest. "That depends. Did you mean it?"

"...Yes." He looked down at the pavement of the parking lot, but his voice was firm.

"Then say it again."

Allen looked up at me and there was surprise written all over his face. He kissed my forehead once more. "I love you."

I had no trouble kissing him after that. We broke apart when I needed air. "I love you too."

He tightened his hold on my waist and spun me in a circle. I couldn't help laughing. Allen loved me. I was both relieved and excited.

Of course, that's when the late hour, long day, and alcohol hit me. I practically collapsed in Allen's arms. He laughed as he helped me to my feet and guided me towards my apartment door. I flushed with embarrassment when he had to help me with my keys. He smiled and kissed me. "Get some sleep, Lena. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Allen."

"Good night. I love you." He kissed me once more and then he was gone.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	13. Noah Trouble, Part 1

A/N: A little late, but here it is. This was a pain to write... Anyway, this marks the start of a relatively major plot arc.

Thanks for all of the kind reviews. :)

To Leone Brion: I wish they'd say it in the manga too. ;)

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When I arrived at work on Saturday morning, I was expecting it to fall into the pattern of the previous four Saturdays: I'd wait on the Noah, watch Allen threaten people and get violent, and then go home and write it all down. But I could tell from the moment I walked into the private room at Bella Ragazza that something was different that day. Sherril wasn't there yet, which wasn't particularly odd, there was still time for him to show up. What _was_ strange was that someone else had beat him there. And that Allen hadn't sought me out in the break room when he had arrived.

I opened the door to find him sitting on the table, dangling his legs off the edge. The anxious look on his face made him seem younger, whereas it probably would have made anyone else look older. That expression, coupled with his unusual behavior, put me on edge. Something was wrong.

He hopped off the table when the door closed behind me. The smile he gave me was forced. "Hey, Lenalee."

"Hey." I approached the table cautiously, the last thing I wanted to do when Allen was freaked out like that was startle him. "What's going on?"

Allen bit his lower lip. "Umm... You might not want to hang around much today. We've got something on the agenda that you're better off not seeing."

I giggled in relief. It was just him worrying about me. "Thanks for the warning. But unless you're planning on snapping someone's arm in half again, I think I'll be fine."

My attempt at humor only made him frown. He grabbed my right wrist and pulled me closer to him. "I'm serious, Lena. This isn't something you want to see."

He had my full attention now. It wasn't like Allen to suggest that I couldn't handle something, despite the fact that I was human. And if he had been ordered to tell me to stay away, he would have said so at the beginning. "What do you mean?"

"I-" He bit his lip again, and that put me even more on edge. "I'm not sure. I... had a vision last night, but it wasn't very clear. I know it has something to do with what's scheduled today, but that's all. It's really not much more than a feeling that something bad is going to happen. So can you please be careful today?"

The expression on his face was strange and it made that feeling of unease come back. His usually bright silver eyes had become dark, and his grip on my wrist had grown painfully tight. "Allen, you're hurting me."

He immediately dropped my wrist and backed up several steps and into the table, causing the vase of fake flowers to topple over. "Oh god! I'm so sorry!"

The pain in my wrist faded when he released me, but I knew it would bruise. I was lucky he hadn't held on any longer, I knew firsthand that he had the strength to snap my wrist like a twig. Strangely enough, I wasn't mad at Allen for it. He was distracted by his anxiety over my safety; he'd hurt me out of his love for me. It was touching, in a backwards kind of way. I quickly stepped over to him and placed my hand on his scarred cheek before winding my fingers into his hair. "Don't worry about it, Allen."

I laughed a little at the face he made; it clearly said that I was crazy if I believed what happened wasn't worth worrying about. And he had a point; he _had_ hurt me. "Ok, worry about it; I don't think either of us want something like that to happen again. But I'm not upset, alright?"

He leaned his forehead against mine. "Thank you."

I smiled at him. "So... you were saying?"

Allen sighed and closed his eyes. "Right, um, well, I know you usually stick around and watch, but could you not do that today? Between what I saw and what I know is scheduled to happen, I just think you'll be better off."

"I can take care of myself, you know." I couldn't help getting a little angry at him, tightening my fingers in his hair and tugging on the strands.

"I know." He took advantage of our close proximity to kiss my nose. "And I know that you've been doing this for a lot longer than I have. But you're just so ... _human_ that I can't help worrying about you. I-"

I knew that he had been about to say 'I love you' again, but instead of finishing the sentence, he kissed me. He pressed his lips against mine and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I wondered what caused the sudden shift in behavior, but I wasn't complaining.

My free hand joined the one in his hair, my fingers entwining around the back of his head. I wasn't about to let him go. It was a little ironic given that I had been so scared of him just two days earlier, but then again, those three little words had completely changed everything. It no longer bothered me that he was a vampire. ...When it came to physical contact that is. I still had issues with relationship stuff, but given how briefly we'd known each other, that was to be expected. And I _definitely_ wouldn't be ready for him to bite me anytime soon.

I was so lost in making out with Allen that I didn't hear the door open. A slight chuckle startled me so badly that I jumped. "Alright children, that's enough of that. Time to get to work."

Though his tone was chiding, Sherril sounded amused, and I was curious what his facial expression was like. I blushed deeply and dropped my hands from Allen's hair, but Allen didn't let go. Instead, he kissed me again. It was just a brief kiss though, and when he was done, he smiled over my shoulder at Sherril. "Sorry, I was just-"

"Warning her to keep her distance today." Sherril finished Allen's sentence. "I heard. It's not a bad idea. _They're_ coming today after all. And we don't need any unnecessary trouble."

My curiosity was piqued. From the way Sherril had said that, it was clear I knew the people he was talking about. And it was only made worse by the way Allen frowned at the mention of the mysterious visitors. They were definitely tied to whatever had him worried.

Allen did finally let go of me though. I stepped away, straightened my uniform, and went about my business, leaving them to discuss theirs. I could have joined them, but I was too scared of Sherril to have done anything other than stand there and watch. Besides, it was a small room; I could hear them just as easily while wiping off the tables as I could if I was standing beside them.

I had to leave, and when I next came into the room, everyone but Tyki had arrived. They all shared the same somber mood that Allen had expressed earlier. Either he'd told them about his vision, or the agenda that day was just that serious. Though based on what happened next, it was the latter.

Tyki arrived, escorting their first 'guest'. I easily recognized the shorter man with his slicked back dark hair from his _many_ previous visits. Suman Dark was one of those unfortunate people whom the Noah had gotten their claws into and he just couldn't get free. I suppose I identified with him a little in that respect, though our circumstances were quite different, especially now that Allen was in the picture.

Suman had come to the Noah for money nearly a decade before I started working at Bella Ragazza. He was brought in every few months to explain why he wasn't paying them back. He'd plead his case, Skinn would beat him to a pulp, and then he'd be sent on his way. Today seemed to be following that routine.

He begged and pleaded for them to give him more time. The story was always the same, but the details were always different. Last time he couldn't get the money because his wife had just died. This time it was because his daughter needed surgery. A part of me wondered if he was making it all up, but he genuinely seemed like a nice guy; he just had some really bad luck. And the stupidity to have borrowed money from the Noah in the first place.

However, the thing that bothered me most about today's encounter was Allen. As familiar as I was with his past and his sensitive side, I expected him to show some compassion for Suman. I thought he'd hear the guy out and then try to convince rest of the Noah to give the guy more time. But he didn't. He was as cold and calloused towards Suman as he was towards the actual criminals in the Noah's network. He was acting exactly like their top enforcer should: he was standing over the kneeling Suman, with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face that actually made him look scary.

Tyki stopped Suman's pleading with a smack to the head. "Shut up already. That's not why you're here."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Suman's face filled with hope, but I knew better. Whatever the Noah were planning wasn't going to end well for him.

Sherril actually closed his notebook as he looked up, an action that only confirmed that they were planning something big. "We have a job for you. Do it right, and we'll forgive your debt."

Suman nodded vigorously, clearly clueless as to what was really going on. "Of course! Whatever it is, I'm your man!"

Road and Tyki snickered, Allen's scowl deepened. The words Allen spoke next shocked me to the core. They were so very wrong coming out of his mouth. "Mr. Dark, you are the assistant manager at the Fifth Street Branch of the First National Bank. We want you to use your credentials to access the vault and safety deposit boxes. You'll retrieve the money you owe us, as well as some other items that are of interest to us, and then you'll be free to go on your merry way."

The room was dead silent. If I hadn't been so shocked that that order just came from my boyfriend, I probably would have tried to get involved. Suman looked as horrified as I felt. "I'm not going to do that!"

 _Since when do the Noah dabble in bank robbery?_ It only took a second for me to realize that this was a smokescreen; they were only telling Suman that it was a robbery to cover up whatever their real plans were.

I tried to catch Allen's gaze to find out what was really going on, but he was deliberately avoiding looking at me. "We're well aware of that, Mr. Dark. That's why we prepared something to ensure your cooperation."

He moved from where he was standing over to the door, still avoiding looking at me, even though he had to walk right past me. And that's when it hit me: his tough guy act was just an act; he wasn't looking at me because he'd give in to his soft side if he did.

The door opened and in walked the vampire twins: Jasdero and Devitto. _Ugh. So_ that's _who Sherril was talking about earlier_.

They were mid-level enforcers, a few rungs under Allen's command. One dyed his hair blond, and the other dyed his black. They were dressed as bizarrely as always, and wearing way too much goth-style makeup to boot. I was sure they'd even look out of place at a cosplay convention.

Every single time they came to a meeting, they harassed me. And not in a tolerable way like Tyki used to. They were the real reason I cared about the self-defense classes.

With the two of them was the most adorable little girl I had ever seen. Her brown hair was tied up in pigtails and she had her arms wrapped tightly around a teddy bear. She looked scared, but that faded in a heartbeat when she saw Suman. "Daddy!"

"Jamie?" He caught her as she threw herself into his arms. The confusion on his face morphed into rage.

The twins started laughing uproariously before he could say anything. Road was also getting some sort of sick pleasure out of the situation.

I looked towards Allen, but he was glaring at Tyki, the horror he felt was written all over his face: he clearly hadn't known that their 'insurance' involved kidnapping Suman's daughter. I don't know if Allen's ignorance made me feel better about the situation or not. Either way, the whole thing was making me sick to my stomach.

I ran from the room as Jasdero and Devitto started taunting Suman.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	14. Noah Trouble, Part 2

A/N: It's back! Sorry about the delay (has it really been three months?), but I put this aside to get one of my other stories finished and I didn't think it would take as long as it did. :/ Anyway, here's chapter 14! (For future reference, I post story updates on my profile.)

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It took everything I had to keep myself from freaking out when Jasdero and Devitto came into the room. They were supposed to bring the blackmail material we had on Suman, not his daughter. I had specifically ordered them to leave her alone; kidnapping children was low, even for the Noah. I could only gather that one of the inner circle had overridden my authority.

It _was_ possible that the twins had simply ignored me; they were the most unpredictable people I had ever met, and they had no moral compass at all. They were the type of vampires that gave the rest of us a bad reputation. It wasn't implausible that they would ignore a direct order from a vampire that was more than fifty years their junior.

But while it was possible, it wasn't exactly probable. The twins were not very bright, and I doubted that they had the brains to have come up with this by themselves. Someone had to have told them to do it. That they did it against my orders meant that it had to have been someone above me who gave them that order. There were only six vampires above me: the Earl and the inner circle.

I was relieved when Lenalee finally ran from the room. I wished she'd done it before she had witnessed the kidnapping, but things were about to get much worse, and I was thankful she wouldn't have to see that. But what I was most thankful for was her absence. She had such an effect on me that I worried constantly about breaking my cover in situations like this when she was around.

I ignored Jasdero and Devitto as they tormented Suman, and turned my focus on the other Noah. None of them were paying attention to me, and I could see from their expressions that I was, somewhat, right: I was the only one who hadn't known that the kidnapping was going to happen. The cop in me wanted to challenge them, but I knew it was pointless. I wasn't in the inner circle yet, they were still testing me. My opinion only mattered if I was asked or if the Earl's life was in danger. Any protest I made would only get me in trouble.

So instead, I focused on the little girl. Getting her out of here was my priority; I couldn't let a child be harmed on my watch. The trick would be doing it in a way that wouldn't make the Noah suspicious of me.

Quickly formulating a plan, I kept my voice firm as I barked out an order. "Road. Go find Lenalee and bring her back here."

Her sadistic giggling stopped as she turned a questioning gaze on me. I stared her down and she turned to Sherril, who nodded once. "Do it, Road."

The spiky haired girl was gone in the blink of an eye. Sherril raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't ask the question I knew he must have been thinking. I guess it was a good thing that he had caught me trying to scare Lenalee off earlier. He had to have figured out that I was planning on having Lenalee take Suman's daughter from the room; that he had told Road to do what I wanted must have meant that he approved of my choice.

The next two minutes felt like hours. It took everything I had to remain impassive as I waited for Road to come back with Lenalee; ignoring the twins was becoming increasingly difficult.

When Lenalee walked through the door, she was obviously scared out of her mind, but she hid it well. I forced myself to hide my concern for her and started barking orders again. "Jasdero, Devitto. Back off."

I glared at the twins until they backed away from Suman and Jamie. The black haired man turned his crying face on me. My stomach twisted in knots as I watched him grow even more terrified as I approached him and his daughter. His expression didn't change as I squatted down in front of them.

I forced my glare into a sweet and innocent smile, the one that made me look completely harmless, and I tapped the little girl on the shoulder so that she'd turn to face me. "Hey Jamie. This is my friend Lenalee." I gestured for Lenalee to come closer, praying that she'd do it without questioning me. "She's going to take you to get something to eat, ok?"

Jamie looked up at me and hugged her teddy bear tight. "But what about Daddy?"

Fake smile still glued on my face, I made what was going to happen sound as innocent as possible. "My friends and I have things we need to discuss with your daddy, so he has to stay here. He'll come join you as soon as we're done."

"Ok." The little girl smiled brightly as she turned and kissed her father on the forehead. Then she took Lenalee's hand.

I saw the relief fill Suman's eyes as he realized that Jamie wasn't going to witness whatever happened next, and I couldn't let that happen; for my plan to work without breaking my cover, he had to remain terrified of me. Acting on instinct, I quickly stood and caught up with the two girls. I caught Lenalee's waist and pulled her into a kiss, knowing that the public display of affection would terrify Suman: his daughter wasn't in the care of the waitress; she was in the care of my girlfriend.

With Lenalee so close to me, I could no longer avoid looking at her. She was keeping it together, but I could tell she was scared and confused. I wanted to calm her down, but I had a part to play. I leaned closer and whispered in her ear, choosing my words carefully as I knew the other vampires would be able to hear me. "Take her to the kitchen and have Jerry make her something. Keep her calm, and _don't_ let her out of your sight. Road will come check on her in a little bit."

Lenalee nodded at my words and I hoped she understood what I meant by them. By volunteering someone else for guard duty, I was both confirming to the Noah that my girlfriend and I weren't plotting anything, and telling Lenalee not to do anything stupid; she'd ruin everything if she tried to intervene.

I watched the two girls leave, and then I turned back to face the room. Suman was once again completely terrified, and the reactions of the inner circle didn't escape my notice; I was in for another lecture about being soft when this whole thing was over. At least, like Sherril earlier, they weren't openly contradicting my decision to send the girl away.

Focusing my attention on Suman, I tried hard to remember what the rest of my commands were. "As I said, Mr. Dark, you have no choice but to cooperate with us. You-"

"Please! Don't hurt my baby girl! I'll do whatever you want, just leave her out of this!" At a nod from me, the twins each grabbed one of Suman's arms and hauled him to his feet. Then they dragged him from the room, still crying and begging for us to spare his daughter.

I watched the door close behind them, intentionally standing with my back to the rest of the room so that I wouldn't have to see the faces of the other vampires as they started the lecture I knew was coming.

Instead, Tyki collapsed in a fit of what could only be described as giggles. That was not even close to what I was expecting his reaction to be. I turned around and scowled at the vampire on the floor. It took a moment for him to regain enough control to actually speak to me. "Oh man, Shounen! You should have seen the look on that guy's face when you kissed the waitress! I've never seen someone get so scared by a PDA before! He looked ready to wet himself!"

I wasn't the only one frowning at the man's outburst. Sherril was giving his brother his 'I can't believe we're actually related' look. "Tyki. Get ahold of yourself. And give me my money."

Tyki's mood instantly turned sour as he pushed himself off the ground and shoved a wad of bills into his older brother's outstretched hand. Watching Sherril count the money, my frown deepened. "What's going on?"

When neither Tyki nor Sherril answered my question, Wisley stepped in. "We knew you would object to using the girl to manipulate her father, so we didn't tell you that that's what was happening. The rest was a test. Those two had a bet going as to whether or not you'd pass."

"So?" When they just stared at me, I rolled my eyes at them. "Did I pass?"

"With flying colors." Sherril smiled at me.

I allowed myself to relax a little; there was no lecture in my future for this. I had apparently done exactly what they expected me to do.

Suddenly, there was an explosion. The blast came from right next to me, and should have been deafening. I should have been engulfed in heat and blasted with shrapnel. Instead, it all just passed through me as if I wasn't really there.

It took me less than a fraction of a second to realize that I was having a vision of the future.

Glancing around, I took in everything I could. I was in some sort of office space. The room was a mess from the explosion, objects were strewn everywhere and there were injured people all around me. Some were sheltered by desks and cabinets, but several people lay dead in the open area in the middle of the room, and I could make out the remains of at least two vampires. I wandered among the wreckage, searching for any clues I could find as to where I was and what had happened.

My heart nearly stopped as I recognized one of the injured women. The middle-aged blonde was screaming in pain, her legs pierced with shrapnel and bleeding profusely. She was an FBI agent, the head of a local white collar crime task force, Klaud Nine.

And as I realized who she was, I realized _where_ I was. I'd done a lot of surveillance here over the last few days; I knew it well, but the destruction from the explosion had thrown me off. I was standing in the Fifth Street Branch of the First National Back.

But what had exploded?

I turned my focus in that direction, picked my way through the debris, and managed to find the source of the blast. A charred body lay splayed out on the ground, its torso missing completely. Someone had had a bomb strapped to their chest.

But who...?

My psychic power answered the question before I finished thinking it: Suman Dark. The Noah were going to use him to blow up the bank.

Why?

The vision faded as I asked the question. My power couldn't tell me reasoning, only what was going to happen.

I returned to my senses to find myself collapsed on my side on the tiled floor. It took a moment to collect myself, the scent of smoke still lingering in my nose. I sat up carefully, clutching my pounding head.

I hated visions like that one, I always felt like crap afterwards. The ones where the events were happening within minutes were easy to handle, but the ones that were further away were just so draining. Add in the intensity of this one, and it wasn't all that surprising that my head felt like it was going to split open.

I heard someone say something, but it was like I was underwater; everything was echoing, and I couldn't make out the words or even tell who was speaking. The words were repeated as whoever it was helped me to my feet and into a chair. Catching the word, "Shounen", I was able to determine that Tyki was the one helping me.

A few more seconds passed, and I had returned to myself, though my head was still pounding horribly. I looked around to see all of the Noah staring grimly at me; even Road's usual playful smirk was gone. They all knew that I had just had a vision. Sherril broke the silence. "You saw the bank, didn't you? What happened?"

"I don't know." It was an honest answer, as I had yet to make sense of what I'd seen. "What's supposed to happen?"

My question was met with silence. Even with knowing that I had seen something, they still didn't want to tell me what was really going on. I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Look, we've been over this before. I know I'm not part of the inner circle yet, but if you insist on keeping me out of the loop on this, then I can't help you. I can't tell you what goes wrong if I don't know what right is supposed to be."

The silence continued as I waited for them to decide whether or not they could share the truth of what they were planning with me. Sherril finally spoke, like I knew he would; my information was too valuable to pass up. "The bank robbery is a farce. Some of our accounts are through that branch of the bank, and we've noticed suspicious activity on them: someone has been feeding the information on those accounts to the Feds. We've been using Suman to smoke out the rat; manipulating his career to get him into a position where we'd have the access to find the rat's identity. Now that we've found it, we're going to make an example out of him."

 _By blowing up a bank?!_ It took quite a bit of restraint to keep myself from expressing my disbelief out loud. But if their goal was to keep others in line, they were succeeding: I was more afraid for my life than I had ever been before.

That would explain why I saw Klaud in my vision though. If the guy leaking information didn't know that he was dealing with the Noah, issues at a bank would go through the white collar division rather than organized crime.

I needed to get this under control quickly. From what the Noah just told me, I'd witnessed the events exactly as they were supposed to happen. I couldn't let them blow up a bank full of people just to make a point. Fortunately, they had come to accept my visions as a sign that something was going to go wrong. All I had to do was play that up. In this case, that would mean lying to them about what my vision was. Then all I would have to do was make sure that neither the lie nor the real vision came true.

"And you trusted the twins with that?! No wonder everything gets so bloody messed up!" I groaned and ran a hand through my hair. "Walk me through what's supposed to happen."

It was more or less what I thought: they were going to use Suman to rob the safety deposit boxes as planned, (they may as well make money out of this whole ordeal), and then they were going to arrange for him to get caught red handed by the rat, and blow them both up.

"Isn't dealing with rats _my_ job? Why did you leave me out of this?!" It wasn't that hard to pretend to be upset over that, as I actually was upset over it. "Ugh. Never mind, there's no time for that right now. I've got to go stop the twins from leveling the entire block."

Tyki's hand on my shoulder stopped me from standing. "You're too soft, Shounen. Let someone else handle the twins."

I growled at him. "I can handle the twins. That's why they're under _my_ command and not someone else's."

"Allen." My focus snapped to the Earl as he addressed me. Whatever decision he made on the matter was final. I prayed that luck would be on my side and I'd actually be able to go change things. "Do whatever it is you have to do. But remember: we want Suman and the rat dead. There will be no tolerance for your pussyfooting around this time."

"Yes sir." Fuck, now my hands were tied. It was going to be a whole lot harder to do this if they expected people to die.

I swayed a little as I got to my feet. Damn. I didn't think that vision had taken that much out of me. I was going to need to feed soon. Hopefully I could get this handled before that happened.

It surprised me when Tyki addressed me instead of letting me leave. "Shounen. Your human girlfriend is in the kitchen."

I blinked at Tyki. Of course I knew where Lenalee was. Why did he feel the need to tell me? And why had he called her human?

My obvious confusion earned laughter from the Noah. Tyki's tone when he spoke next was clearly meant to make me feel stupid. "You need blood, right? There's no need to go off all half-cocked and do something stupid when you've got a free meal right here."

I made an annoyed gesture at him and then I strode purposely out of the room; pretending that I was going to do exactly what he was suggesting.

There was just one little problem: I had never fed off Lenalee before. She still wasn't ready for me to bite her. I wanted to respect that and wait until she was.

But now the idea of drinking her blood was in my head. And at a time when I actually needed to feed. If I asked and she said no, I could end up biting her anyway. There was also the issue of her personality: she was just too nice. If I came to her needing blood, it was entirely possible that she would let me bite her even if she wasn't ready for that yet.

I needed to decide quickly. Thinking about this was only making me thirstier, and I had more pressing matters to attend to.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	15. Noah Trouble, Part 3

I just about had a heart attack when Road suddenly appeared in the break room. That girl scared the shit out of me, and having her pop up behind me, like she did the night she threatened me, was terrifying. And when the first thing she said was, "Allen wants you to come back," it sent me into a panic.

Fortunately, I was only back in that room long enough to get Suman's little girl out of there. It was relieving to see that even while he was in his tough guy persona, Allen was still Allen. On the other hand, being ordered around like that by my boyfriend was more than a little disturbing.

I took Jamie to the kitchen like I was told to do. It wasn't where I wanted to take her, but Allen had made it perfectly clear that he didn't want me to meddle, and I didn't want to find out what would happen if I went against that. Besides, I was positive that Allen's gentle side would never let any harm come to that little girl; I would just have to trust him and wait and see what he was planning.

Taking care to keep Jamie in my line of sight as much as possible, I left her talking with Jerry while I prepared the little table we used for staff meal breaks. While technically in the kitchen, it was behind the supply racks and we would be out of Jerry's way there. I grabbed some crayons and paper as I went about, hoping that coloring would keep Jamie distracted from whatever was happening with her father. There wasn't going to be much else to entertain her at the restaurant, and I didn't want us to just be sitting there staring at each other. I was afraid that if I actually had to talk to Jamie, I would say something about her dad that I shouldn't.

She pounced on the crayons the second I set them in front of her. I watched her draw for a bit, loving the adorable way she stuck out her tongue while she worked. It made me want to cuddle her, which I knew I couldn't do, so instead I began to daydream of having kids of my own to fawn over.

They would be absolutely adorable, well behaved yet rambunctious. A boy and a girl. One of each, as I could never decide which gender I wanted more. I pictured myself tying pigtails into my daughter's hair, and helping my son figure out how to tie his shoes. Allen would be a fantastic father to them, teaching them how to-

...

Wait. Since when was Allen the father in my fantasy family? Sure, he was my boyfriend, and I loved him, but when had I begun thinking about spending the rest of my life with him like that?

All of a sudden, Jamie was thrusting a purple crayon into my face, interrupting my train of thought. "You draw, too!"

Smiling brightly at her, I took the crayon and began to doodle, still shaken by the realization of just how far I'd fallen for that white haired boy. Satisfied that I was doing what she asked, Jamie started babbling, telling me all about kindergarten and her puppy, and anything else she could think of. I laughed at her stories and chimed in with questions. It successfully distracted me from my thoughts.

Then, as she reached for a crayon, Jamie knocked her water glass over. She shrieked as it fell in slow motion. But instead of spilling all over her drawings, it fell to the ground, shattering on impact. We were both up in a flash, and I had to push her back down in her seat. I smiled reassuringly at the scared look on her face; she was clearly expecting me to yell at her. "Don't worry about it. It's just a cup. You go back to drawing and I'll get this cleaned up."

I grabbed a rag and mopped up the spilled water, carefully picking up the pieces of glass as I went. It annoyed me to no end that the restaurant only had easily breakable glasses; we didn't even have plastic cups for the kids. It seemed like I spent all my time picking up broken glass.

The sound of footsteps reminded me that Road was supposed to be checking on us, and I was so startled that I dropped the piece of glass I was holding as I looked up. It was only Allen. But my relief only lasted a heartbeat as I felt a sharp pain in my forearm. I glanced back down to see blood welling out of a cut that hadn't been there before. Ugh. I _really_ hated glass.

"Are you ok?" Allen's voice was dripping with concern. It felt good to hear his usual self after everything I'd heard him say that morning.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a little blood." Smiling up at him, I gestured to his left. "Could you grab the first aid kit? It's right behind you."

"Of course." Allen grabbed the little box and was at my side in an instant. He knelt down beside me, and took my wrist in his right hand.

I reached over to open the first aid kit and pull out an antiseptic wipe, but I was stopped by Allen's free hand before I got the latch undone. "Let me get that."

Expecting him to open the kit himself, it was a major shock when he leaned forward and started licking up the blood trailing down my arm. I began to ask what he was doing, but the words died in my throat when I saw his fangs. They were out and dangerously close to my skin. And his eyes, usually so bright and sparkling, were glazed over with a look that I could only describe as hunger. I was unable to do anything other than watch, completely paralyzed with fear, as my vampire boyfriend drank my blood.

It started out as just his tongue on my skin, licking up the blood that had spilled, but once that was gone, he moved to the cut, wrapping his mouth around it and sucking the blood out.

It was terrifying. I wanted to scream at him to stop, but I was too scared that the noise would startle him into hurting me. While he technically hadn't broken his promise to not bite me, this was a line that I hadn't been ready for him to cross. I was still much too scared of vampires for him to touch me like that.

Contrary to my fears, Allen didn't take it too far. He pulled away before I started to feel lightheaded. That glazed look in his eyes vanished as he smiled sheepishly at me. "Sorry. I got a little carried away."

I scowled at him as he began to bandage my cut. The only thing I could think to say was sarcastic. "You think?"

Allen sighed as he finished, and then he began picking up what was left of the broken glass. "I know. I crossed the line. I'm sorry."

"Allen, why-?"

I was cut off by another apology. "I'm sorry, but I can't explain right now. There's not enough time." Allen helped me to my feet and immediately pushed me down in the nearest chair. "I have to go deal with the twins. Can you keep an eye on the girl for a while?"

I nodded numbly. The mention of the twins had brought me back to reality, reminding me that the Noah were up to something, and that it wasn't just the two of us in the room. It wasn't what I wanted to focus on; I knew Allen had a reason for breaking my trust like he did and I wanted to find out what it was. Whether or not I could accept that reason was an entirely different question, but Allen was right about one thing: the Noah were the priority right now.

Allen kissed me gently. The kiss tasted off, not like it normally did, and it took me a second to realize that that slightly metallic taste was my own blood. I cringed, but Allen ignored my reaction and brushed a stray hair out of my face. "We can talk later, ok?"

I frowned at him. "Do you really mean that? Or is this one of those things where you're going to end up telling me it's safer if I don't know?"

He leaned in and kissed me again. "I mean it."

I forced a smile as I pushed him away. "Then go do your job."

Back to his usual helpful self, Allen tossed the broken glass in the garbage can as he left the kitchen. I watched him leave, but then I turned my attention back to Jamie. She was still coloring quietly; seemingly unaware of everything that had just happened between Allen and me. That was good; I didn't want to accidentally traumatize her. Though part of me knew that she was going to be traumatized enough by the time the day was over, and it really didn't matter if she had seen.

Forcing myself to relax, I looked down at the page I had been drawing on before, and was immediately stressed out again. Before the glass broke and Allen had come in, I had been daydreaming about our future family, and that had turned into me drawing a simple sketch of us with a baby.

I could barely look at it now. Allen drinking my blood had firmly cemented that he was a vampire into my brain. And putting my issues with the unauthorized feeding aside, I had a new problem. The future I had been dreaming of was impossible. I couldn't have Allen _and_ children. He was a vampire; he was biologically unable to have kids. If I wanted to be a mother someday, which I did, then my future couldn't include Allen...

.x.x.

Cross Marian and Froi Teidoll sat together in their otherwise vacant office. It was Saturday, so those few agents under their command that actually were on duty were out doing other things. Normally neither of the senior agents would be there either, but Allen had informed them of what the Noah were planning, so they were at the office in order to keep an eye on the situation. After a deep discussion, they had decided to order the kid to let the bank robbery play out; it wasn't worth risking his cover over. However, both Cross and Teidoll knew that there were still a million things that could go wrong, and they wanted to be around in case something unexpected happened.

In the meantime, they were catching up on their paperwork. Or rather, Teidoll was watching and laughing as Cross attempted to catch up on his paperwork. The redheaded vampire cursed. "This was a whole lot easier when I could just intimidate that brat into doing it for me."

Teidoll laughed yet again. "Oh, so that's why you're not as productive as you used to be, _Allen_ did all your work for you."

Cross' witty retort was silenced by the office phone ringing. The two agents stared at it for a second; it was a weird speak-of-the-devil moment, and that was slightly off putting to both of them. That specific phone line was secured so that it could be used to keep in contact with Allen without risking the Noah finding out that it belonged to the FBI. Snapping out of it, Cross hurriedly picked up the phone and answered with a gruff, "Hello?"

The voice on the other end did not belong to the white haired vampire, as he had expected, but rather to his PI friend, Alma Karma. "Allen wants you to call him."

The message made Cross growl in annoyance. "Why didn't he just call me himself?"

Alma snorted. "How the hell should I know? I got a coded message asking me to tell you to call him. That's all I know."

The words made Cross freeze. "Coded?"

The other vampire didn't share his apprehension. "Yeah, well, you know Allen. He's been crazy paranoid about this whole thing ever since he started dating that girl."

While Alma was right about the paranoia, Cross wasn't so sure that that was what this was. Allen was far from the brightest crayon in the box, and keeping track of codes was definitely not his forte. If he was using one, something big was going on. "Got it."

When Cross slammed down the receiver, only to pick it up again and begin dialing, Teidoll reached over and hit the speakerphone button; he wanted to be able to hear the whole conversation this time. Being human, he wasn't able to eavesdrop like the vampires could, and only hearing half of the conversation at a time like this was beyond frustrating. Fortunately for him, technology hadn't yet caught up with the vampires, and they had to talk in human hearing range over the phone.

The phone rang a few times, and then a familiar, and unexpectedly cheerful, voice came over the line. "Hey! I was hoping you'd call!"

"Walker-"

The white haired vampire just kept talking. "Yeah I know, it _has_ been a long time! Anyway, I saw your ex-girlfriend at the bank today, you know, the one that always wears white collared blouses. She said I should tell you that she misses you. You should give her a call; maybe see if she wants to go see the fireworks with you tonight."

Allen stopped talking, but it wasn't to let Cross respond. There was some sort of scuffle, and then Allen was back. "Sorry about that, but it just got crazy busy here. I'm going to have to call you back."

The line went dead immediately. Cross shook his head as he hung up the phone. "Alma wasn't kidding about the kid being paranoid."

Teidoll smirked at the redhead as he leaned back in his chair. "So, which of your _many_ ex-girlfriends was he talking about?"

Cross just snorted. "He was talking in code. For all we know he might not have even been talking about a woman."

The redhead's reluctance to talk only served to make Teidoll enjoy the situation even more. "Oh come on, Cross. It's _Allen_. He wouldn't have made his code that hard to break. So think, which ex is it?"

"I don't know." Cross scowled at his frizzy haired partner. This was something he didn't want to talk about in front of him; Allen would definitely be paying for this later. "I don't remember dating a woman who always wore white blouses."

"Then think harder. And be specific. He said white collared blouses..." Teidoll trailed off as something clicked. "Wait. Didn't you once date that blonde woman from the white collar division?"

It might have been Teidoll's imagination, but Cross paled at the mention of her. "Klaud Nine. I wouldn't call what we did 'dating' though."

Teidoll laughed. "But she fits Allen's description, right?

Cross groaned. "There's only one way to find out."

He pulled out his cell phone and quickly found a number in his contacts. He scowled as he brought the phone to his ear and waited for the woman to answer.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"It's Cross. Wait! Don't hang up! Are you at a bank?"

The question was met with silence, but he could tell from the background noise that she hadn't hung up yet. "...Yes..."

"The Fifth Street Branch of the First National Bank?"

"Where _are_ you?"

Cross could practically see the woman spinning around to look for him. But as amusing as that thought was, it wasn't good that she was there. The last bit of Allen's message had finally made sense to him. "I'm at the office. Listen. This is very important. Our psychic says that that bank is going to get blown up today."

Klaud laughed at that. "I'm hanging up now."

Sensing what was about to happen, Teidoll grabbed the phone from Cross. "Klaud, wait. It's Teidoll. We're dead serious about this."

She sobered up at the sound of the other man's voice. "You mean he wasn't trying to be funny?"

Teidoll mad a face at Cross. "Unfortunately, no. Can you tell us what you're doing there?"

"I'm on a case. And it's none of your business what it is. Can I go now? I've got to evacuate the bank and call in the bomb squad."

Hearing what she was planning, Cross snatched the phone and shouted into it. "You can't do that!"

Teidoll took the phone back from Cross just in time to catch Klaud cursing at the redhead. "Look, you'll jeopardize our case and expose an undercover agent if you do that."

"So you want me to let the bank blow up?!"

He winced at her tone. "No. Or is that yes? Ugh. You've met Allen Walker, right?"

"Yeah, isn't he-?"

"Yes." Teidoll cut her off before she could describe Allen, just in case someone could hear her talking. "He's undercover with the Noah family."

He paused briefly to let Klaud gasp in shock. "He should be at the bank soon. He's high enough in their organization that he should be the one calling the shots. If you see him, play along with whatever he's up to. You know him because you dated his stepfather. Got it?"

"But what about the bomb?"

Cross leaned in to answer that question. "Leave it; Allen will handle it. We don't care about your case either. The priority is protecting Allen's cover. If we lose him, it'll take decades to get someone else in that deep."

"It almost sounds like you care, Cross. Who is the kid to you?"

Teidoll laughed. "That's a long story. And we don't have time for it. Can you do what we're asking, or not?"

"I'll give the kid one hour. If he hasn't dealt with the situation by noon, then I'm doing this my way."

She hung up before either man could argue with her. They shared a grim look, and then Cross picked up the office phone and dialed Allen's number.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Edited February 2017


	16. Noah Trouble, Part 4

A/N: Here's chapter 16! I know what you're all thinking: "It's about damn time." A five month hiatus was way too long. I don't want to say that my writer's block is gone, but I do have the next chunk of story planned out, so hopefully my muse stays with me so that I can actually make some progress.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

I could just kill Cross sometimes. I wanted his help, not for him to get Klaud involved. And then she went and gave me a time limit. As if this whole thing wasn't going to be hard enough to pull off.

At least my focus was effectively off of what had happened with Lenalee before I left the restaurant. If I couldn't do this, it wouldn't matter that I had crossed a line by drinking her blood like that. I would be facing so much worse than an angry girlfriend if things went wrong here.

I had to let the robbery take place; the Noah would know that I was up to something if I didn't. I also had to let the bomb go off, for that same reason, but I at least had a little control over that; as long as there was an explosion of some kind, it wouldn't matter if I rigged the situation so that there were no injured bystanders. If I did it right, I could even make it so that no one suspected foul play, which would go a long way towards keeping the Noah off my back about having yet another job with a low body count.

The bomb and the robbery weren't my biggest problems though. I could handle those, provided that Klaud actually cooperated with whatever plan I came up with, and I was fairly certain that she would. No, the real problem was the order I had gotten from the Earl. I had absolutely no clue how I was going to get out of this one. I could not be responsible for someone's death, yet it was looking like I didn't have a choice this time.

This was _not_ what I signed up for when I agreed to go undercover.

.x.x.

Road had checked up on me and Jamie a handful of times in the past three hours. I didn't mind, but the way she did it was rather irritating. She would pop up behind me and scare the crap out of me, and then she would be gone just as fast. Jamie thought it was a fun game though, so I made sure that I didn't let on that I actually was terrified of the blue haired vampire. That was something that little girl did not need to know.

On her first visit, Road had asked to see my cell phone, which I strongly objected to. We argued over it a little, but my phone was in my locker, so the whole issue turned out to be moot. On top of that, it turned out that she just wanted to make sure that I wasn't communicating with Allen, and I couldn't fault her for that. She wanted to make sure that I wasn't distracting him, and that was the reason why I had put my phone away. I didn't want him to mess up whatever important thing he was off doing because of me.

When Road wasn't giving me panic attacks, my mind was constantly drifting between the three big revelations I'd had in the few short hours I'd been at work: the depth of my feelings for Allen, the fact that I couldn't have kids with him, and the fact that he had crossed the line and drank my blood without permission. I couldn't decide whether I was angry at him, scared of him, or in love with him. And whenever I thought I was reaching a decision, I'd remember that he was currently out working a job for the Noah that involved bank robbery, blackmail, and the twins, and my feelings would shift to gut-wrenching worry for his safety.

I knew his job would go unpredictably, but I couldn't have guessed just how off the rails it would go.

My heart was still pounding from Road's last surprise visit when Miranda came into the kitchen. The older woman had clearly just arrived for work as she was still in her street clothes and her messy brown hair had yet to be tied back. She was panicking about something, which wasn't all that strange, Miranda was quite high-strung and it didn't take much to freak her out.

There was something different this time though. Especially when instead of her usual greeting, her first words to me were, "Oh my god, Lenalee! Did you hear what happened?"

I shook my head at her as I stood from the table and led Miranda out of Jamie's earshot, so that the girl wouldn't hear something she shouldn't. Experience had taught me that listening to Miranda's issues was far quicker than trying to convince her I was busy, so I feigned just enough interest in her story to get her to talk without upsetting her further. "No, I haven't. I've been at work all morning."

"It's all over the news." She patted frantically around her pockets, clearly looking for her cell phone, which was in her hand. "One of the banks downtown blew up."

My heart almost stopped at the words. It was awful news, but it felt even worse given what had happened that morning: Allen was at a bank downtown. Sure, it was possible that it was a coincidence, but I couldn't make myself believe that. Not when the Noah were involved.

So when Miranda offered me her phone, with the news video open and ready to play, I had to force myself to keep my hands from shaking as I took it. I was very scared of what I would see.

.x.x.

A pretty blonde woman wearing a navy windbreaker emblazoned with her news station's logo stood a safe distance away from a building that was engulfed in a smoky haze. All the windows of the building were blown out, and glass and rubble littered the street where firefighters and emergency workers were working to clean up the debris.

The woman adjusted her hold on the microphone and turned to face the camera. "This is Linda Davenport with Channel 6 News, coming to you from the corner of Fifth and Walnut, where an explosion at the First National Bank rocked the city earlier this morning. Both streets remain closed as emergency crews work to clear the rubble, and drivers are advised to find alternate routes. There is no word yet as to when the area will be reopened."

The camera then panned away from her to provide the viewers with a better picture of the crumbling bank. "As you can see behind me, the flames from the blast have been put out, allowing authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the site. The bomb squad has determined the source of the explosion to be an unspecified gas leak, and while they have not yet ruled out foul play, they do not suspect it at this time."

As she continued her report, the camera once again focused on her. "The possibilities of the gas explosion being caused by terrorists or bank robbers are also being investigated, but authorities believe them to be highly unlikely cases."

The video switched from the reporter to a grainy, black and white security camera feed. There was nothing particularly interesting about the video at first. It simply depicted normal, everyday bank activity. "Security footage was damaged by the explosion, but what has been recovered indicates that this truly was an accident."

She continued to talk, describing what the surveillance video was showing. "Witnesses say that they heard a high-pitched hissing sound and felt the room heating up. Everyone began to panic, and that escalated into full scale chaos when one of the patrons announced that they smelled gas. Suman Dark, the branch's assistant manager, quickly sprang into action and ordered an evacuation of the bank. A few people were hurt in the mad dash for the doors, but otherwise the injuries were minor. Mr. Dark stayed behind to lock up the vault, as per bank policy, but the gas leak caught fire and exploded before he could make it out of the building."

The security footage cut out and the video returned to the reporter. Her serious smile was now an appropriately somber frown. "Authorities have uncovered one other body in the wreckage. While the body has yet to be officially identified, it is believed to be that of the bank manager, Roy Collins, whose whereabouts since the explosion have been unaccounted for.

"That is all the information I have for you at the moment. I will remain at the site all afternoon, bringing you more information as the story unfolds. This is Linda Davenport, signing out."

.x.x.

When the video ended, I numbly handed Miranda back her phone. The thoughts in my head were very chaotic, but I didn't have time to think about any of it; I couldn't risk breaking down in front of Miranda, she'd only make the situation worse. "Wow, that's... that's scary, Miranda. But you've got work right now. If you don't calm down, you're going to get sent home again."

I don't know if my words calmed her down or not, but I wasn't really thinking about her problems at the time. I needed to get away from her so that I could be alone with my thoughts. Stuck in a daze, I wandered back to the table where Jamie was still coloring away and sat down beside her.

I briefly wondered if I should tell Jamie about her father's death, but I quickly decided against that. I had no clue how she'd take the news, or even how to give it to her. Plus, I couldn't stand the thought of making a little girl cry.

I let out a long, slow breath, trying to calm my jumpy nerves. Suman was dead. And there was an unidentified body. I was both sad and relieved about that. I was no stranger to the things the Noah could get up to; I had been watching them for a long time. Two people dead and only minor injuries was actually an incredibly low count for an explosion of that scale. If anyone other than Allen had been in charge of that project, there would have been lots more casualties.

The cold, logical part of my brain wondered what the Noah were up to. The last I heard, they were robbing the bank, not blowing it up. I wondered what happened to change that. Then again, I was just the waitress; they had a habit of downplaying their activities in front of me. They were probably planning on killing Suman from the beginning too.

But ever since I had met Allen, things had changed. That logical part of my brain had gotten a lot quieter when it came to the things he was involved in. Instead, I was left with the irrational part that just wanted to scream at Allen. I wanted to know how that kind and sweet boy could blow up a bank. It didn't matter that I knew he was ordered to do it, or that I had seen him commit crimes before, I was just irrationally angry and upset with him.

Which, given that I was already mixed up over my feelings towards him because of everything else that had happened that day, meant that I was bound to blow up at him the next time I saw him.

Of course, the next time I saw Allen was less than five minutes later.

All of my irrational anger vanished the second I laid eyes on him, which was good; I didn't want to pick a fight with him for no reason. However, that anger was replaced with fear.

The instant I saw his smile, I was reminded of what had happened before he left. Instead of seeing that bright smile I loved so much, I saw his fangs against my skin and felt his tongue licking along my arm.

But I managed to collect myself enough to smile back at him. He kissed my forehead and headed into the restaurant. "I have to go talk to the others. I'll be back in a bit."

When he was gone, I screamed at myself internally for freezing like that. He had said he'd explain himself later, and I couldn't push him away until I got that explanation. That applied to both the one he had promised to give me after drinking my blood and the one I desperately needed in regards to what the hell happened at that bank.

He came back about ten minutes later, and I had composed myself by then. I was ready to pry the information out of him if I had to. And it looked like that was what I would have to do. "Hey, Lena. You can go back to waitressing now. I'm going to take the girl home."

"I saw the news report. What happened?"

He just shook his head at me. "If you saw the news then you know as much as I do. It's going to take us weeks to figure out what went wrong."

I knew he was lying. He wasn't exhibiting his usual tells, but I still knew he was lying. I pressed him for details, but he continued to evade them. Eventually he dropped the subject altogether, collected Jamie, and left the restaurant. I watched him go, feeling even more upset with him than I already was.

.x.x.

I don't know why I volunteered to do this part myself. Taking Jamie to her mother's house was something any flunky could have done, and after everything that had happened that day, I just wanted to get as far away from that family as I could.

It was probably the guilt that made me feel that way. All it had taken was a promise that I would make sure the Noah would leave his daughter and ex-wife alone, and Suman had willingly cooperated with my plan. Actually, he'd taken it even further than that, sacrificing himself for them by choosing to set off the gas explosion himself. I argued with him about it, even trying to convince him to go into witness protection, but in the end, I was overruled.

Jamie didn't question me when I took her from the restaurant, and she fell asleep the second we were in the car, never once asking where I was taking her. But that was how kids her age thought. She trusted Lenalee and Lenalee trusted me, so she trusted me too.

I knew we were being followed, but I ignored whoever it was the Noah had sent to keep an eye on me. They weren't going to catch me at anything, because I wasn't up to anything.

Parking in the driveway, I pulled on a hooded jacket before climbing out of the car. It was a little too sunny for my liking, and the hood would also hide my hair and scar; I just wanted to get this over with and I didn't need the delay my appearance would cause.

I opened the back door for Jamie and helped her gather the drawings that had spilled on the floor. She carried them close to her chest and ran straight to the front door of the house. I hurried to catch up with her when she started repeatedly ringing the doorbell.

The door was answered by a brunette woman who was clearly Jamie's mother. I could tell from the surprise on her face that this was going to be harder than I thought; this woman was going to question everything I said to her. Jamie hugged her mother then ran inside, giggling loudly.

I stopped when I reached the top of the porch steps, leaving space between me and the woman staring suspiciously at me. "Who are you? What's Jamie doing home? And where's her father? She's supposed to be with him this weekend."

Her last question surprised me. I thought she would have been informed of Suman's death by now, or at least seen the news; there were reporters everywhere when I left the bank. "Ah, I'm sorry, I thought you knew. There was a gas leak at the bank; your husband didn't make it out in time."

" _Ex_ -husband." She was not the least bit disturbed by the news that Suman was dead.

I bowed slightly at her correction. "Right, sorry. Anyway, I'm with Jamie's daycare. Under the circumstances, we thought it best to bring her home."

The lie didn't faze the woman in the slightest. She narrowed her eyes at me, and I ducked further into the shadow of my hood. "You're with that Noah group aren't you? The one my bastard ex-husband owes all that money to? The daycare called me when Jamie didn't show up today. Don't think I don't know that you lot were involved. The fact that Jamie seems to be alright is the only reason I haven't called the cops on you yet. Now scram. You're not getting a dime towards that bastard's debt out of me."

She started to close the door on me, so I quickly reached out and stopped it. "Ma'am, I assure you, that's not why I'm here. Honestly. I was just making sure the girl got home safe. No harm came to her; she sat and colored all day. There's nothing for you to worry about. Your ex-husband's debt died with him."

I let go of the door and walked away. I had planned to tell her more, or suggest that she consider moving out of state, but the hostility flowing off her made it clear that she'd never listen to me. I could have Cross or Teidoll call her later if it was still bothering me, but for now, leaving was my best option.

I was halfway to my car when the sound of footsteps behind me made me turn around. I was expecting trouble, but it was just Jamie. She grinned at me and thrust something out towards me. "For you!"

I carefully took the sheet of white paper she was offering to me, flipping it over to reveal the drawing on the other side. The picture was done in purple crayon and was of me and Lenalee holding a baby. I blinked at the page; I didn't have to hear Jamie's next words to know that Lenalee drew that picture.

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A/N #2: Chapter 17 is written. I plan to post it in three weeks (on 5/25).


	17. A Serious Talk, Part 1

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I'm glad you guys are glad this is back.

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With how distraught I was, I was almost surprised that I made it home from work without getting in a car accident. The rest of the afternoon and evening had been perfectly normal compared to the chaos of the whole bank robbery thing, so I'd had plenty of time to calm down. However, aside from accepting that I would most likely never know what actually happened at that bank, I was even more freaked out over the whole blood drinking thing.

As I walked across the parking lot, I caught sight of lights on inside Anita's apartment. That reminded me of something Allen had said about her a couple weeks earlier, and I wondered if she really would give me advice like he had implied.

I definitely needed someone to talk to though, and Anita was as good a person as any for that, so I took a chance and knocked on her door. She answered right away, and I smiled hesitantly at her. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I-"

That was all she let me say. The black haired woman smiled as she grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside. "Something happened with Allen, didn't it? Come, tell me all about it."

Less than five minutes later, I was sitting on the couch in her living room as she served tea. It was a quite lavishly furnished room, more so than being a landlady would support, and I wondered if she had inherited the antique pieces or if her vampire fiancé had bought them for her, as he had always seemed like quite the lavish man.

Anita placed her cup on the coffee table and settled into the chair across from me, sweeping her low ponytail over her shoulder. "Now, tell me what's going on."

I frowned into my cup. I knew I needed to talk about it, but I felt really awkward bringing it up. All I really knew about Anita was that she was engaged to a vampire, and here I was, coming to her for relationship advice. "This is probably going to sound stupid to you, but Allen drank my blood for the first time today."

Instead of laughing, Anita shook her head and smiled reassuringly at me. "That's not stupid at all. The first biting in a relationship can be a very big step."

I bit my lip in embarrassment then decided that if I didn't correct her, there was no point in having come. "See, that's the thing. He didn't bite me. I cut myself," I held out my arm so she could see the bandage, "and he drank my blood while he was cleaning it up."

It was silent for a moment as Anita studied me. But what she said next told me that she understood that I was scared, and she wasn't going to judge me for it. "Lenalee, have you ever been bitten before?"

"Once. When I was seven. I was bitten by the vampire who killed my parents."

"And Allen knows this?"

It was a rhetorical question, but I nodded anyway. However before I could say anything, she continued talking. "Knowing him, he agreed to wait to bite you until you were ready, and now you're freaked out because even though he technically didn't break that promise, he still went too far."

I nodded again and let out a heavy sigh, absently stirring my tea. "Yeah. That was the first time I'd ever been scared he'd hurt me. I've always felt safe with him, but now..."

Anita laughed lightly. It wasn't at my expense, but rather to ease the tension that had gathered in the room. "It's natural to feel that way. But don't let it scare you off. I guarantee that you'd be feeling differently if he actually had bitten you."

I knew she was telling me something I already knew, but I could not for the life of me figure out what that was; it had been a long day and my brain was emotionally fried. Fortunately, when I just stared blankly at Anita, she smiled and explained. "When a vampire bites a human, they inject them with venom."

"Oh, right. I heard something like that from Allen's friends." I blushed as I recalled that far too personal conversation from our first date.

Anita laughed. "Being adolescent boys, I imagine they only told you about the aphrodisiac effect." When my blush deepened, confirming her guess, she laughed more. "But there are other effects a vampire can make their venom have."

I perked up at that. There were others? Anita smiled at my reaction. "Obviously, the aphrodisiac is the most popular, and given your job, you've probably heard quite a bit about the one that causes pain, otherwise you wouldn't be so scared of Allen right now."

I blushed again. Hearing someone else say out loud that I was scared of Allen just made the situation seem more ridiculous. What she said made sense though; the people I knew who complained about how much getting bitten hurt were victims and underlings of the Noah.

"There's a venom that acts as a blood thinner, the one used in turnings, and quite a few others. Cross' favorite when he bites me is-" Anita paused her rambling, and we smiled awkwardly at each other as we realized at the same time that she was about to say something too personal. I didn't mind though; it was somehow reassuring to hear that Cross drank her blood on a regular basis.

"But I've gotten off track. The point was, if Allen were to bite you, he'd use a numbing effect and make the experience as painless as possible. He's too gentle to use anything else." She laughed into her teacup. "It's obviously not completely painless, but rather than feeling like you've been bitten, it's more like a pin prick, just a quick stab of pain. If Allen had bitten you, it would definitely hurt less than that cut on your arm does."

I frowned at that, and she smiled gently at me. "Physically anyway. Emotionally, maybe not so much. Have you talked to him about this yet?"

"No." I shook my head. "I tried at the time, but he couldn't stay. He promised he'd explain later, but whenever we've been alone since then, he won't let me bring it up."

.x.x.

As soon as I was free from the Noah, I drove to Lenalee's apartment. I was nervous about talking to her when she was so upset with me, but I had promised to explain, and putting it off would only make her more upset.

Her car was in the parking lot, but she wasn't in her apartment. And that was weird.

I nervously looked around the complex, but didn't see her. I caught her scent though, and I followed it without thinking; I was worried for her safety. Needless to say, I was both surprised and relieved when I ended up at Anita's door.

Honestly, it made me love Lenalee even more. Rather than waiting and taking her frustrations out on me, which I probably deserved, she was being mature and calming down before facing me.

I didn't want to eavesdrop on them if they were having a private conversation, but I also didn't want to interrupt if they were in the middle of something important. Of course, arguing with myself over that was moot as I was a vampire. We may have been separated by a few walls, but I could hear them as easily as if they were standing right next to me, and I wasn't even trying.

What I heard was Anita telling Lenalee she should give me the chance to explain before she gets too freaked out. So I went ahead and knocked on the door.

"I'll be right back, Lenalee." Then there was a clinking of china; Anita had set down a teacup.

"Ok." More clinking; this time it was from Lenalee stirring her tea, one of her nervous habits that I found absolutely adorable.

The sound of footsteps preceded the door opening, and Anita laughed when she saw me. She waved for me to come inside, and I wordlessly followed her into the living room. Lenalee was staring down into her cup; she looked so gorgeous lost in thought like that. "Lenalee, your prince is here."

She looked up in confusion and I smiled at her out of habit, blushing slightly at the way Anita had referred to me. The next expression on Lenalee's face hurt; I hated seeing her look so scared of me. But I didn't know how best to put her at ease, so I just continued to smile at her. "Hey, Lena."

Anita laughed lightly at the awkwardness between us. "Alright you two, take as long as you need to talk. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

Lenalee stood up off the couch and brushed off her skirt. "Thanks, but we can go up to my apartment. I can't put you out any longer than I already have."

"Nonsense." Anita smiled and gently pushed Lenalee back down on the couch. "You two need to talk, and you're not leaving here until you do."

"But-"

Anita turned and left the room before Lenalee finished protesting.

Lenalee stared suspiciously at me as I sat down across from her. "Are you actually going to explain now, or are you going to push me away again?"

I sighed and shook my head. "Lena, when I told you that we'd talk later, I thought you'd know that later meant once we were away from the Noah."

Her embarrassed blush made it clear that she was beating herself up over feeling stupid. I smiled gently at her. "I'm sorry you misunderstood. But we're alone now. I'm more than willing to explain if you're willing to listen."

The look in her eyes said she didn't believe me, but she set her teacup down and stared levelly at me. "Alright, explain."

"I've told you I'm psychic, but what I haven't told you is that my visions come at a cost. They drain me physically."

"What does this have to do with...?"

I smiled at her unfinished question, ignoring the hostility in her tone; she thought I was changing the subject. "When I have a particularly strong vision, like the one I had this morning, I pass out. And afterwards, I _need_ blood. The longer I postpone feeding, the more I'm in danger of losing control and biting the next human I see."

There it was again, that look that said she was terrified of me. I dropped my gaze to my lap; I couldn't stand seeing her like that. "I came to the kitchen this morning with the intention of asking you if I could feed off you. I didn't want to because I knew you weren't ready, and I knew you'd say yes anyway, but I didn't have a choice; I needed blood _that_ badly."

"So when I dropped that piece of glass, you just decided that because I was already bleeding you could help yourself?"

I hated that accusatory tone, but what she was saying was essentially true, and that just made me feel worse. "I don't know if you realize this, but to a vampire that needs to feed, the sight of freshly spilled blood is like that of an oasis to a man who has been wandering the desert. When you got cut, it took everything I had to keep myself from attacking you. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I needed the blood so badly that I couldn't stop myself. It was all I could do to keep from making your injury worse."

I smiled hesitantly at her. "I may have a lot of self-control, but I'm still a vampire. There are just some instincts I can't fight."

It felt like an awful excuse. 'Sorry I hurt you, but I'm a vampire, I couldn't help myself.' It was the truth though, so I could only hope she'd understand.

Her facial expression as she stared at me was unreadable. I couldn't tell if she was still scared and upset, or if she'd forgiven me, or if all I'd done was piss her off. When she finally spoke, after an agonizing five minutes of staring, she spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. "When you said you knew that I'd say yes, what did you mean by that?"

I sighed and leaned closer to her. "You are the most caring person I have ever met, Lenalee. You would never let someone suffer when you could do something to help them. So even though you weren't ready for me to bite you, if I came to you desperately needing blood like that, you would have pushed your personal feelings aside and let me feed off you."

I reached out and placed my right hand on her knee. "I am very sorry for getting carried away like that. It was not my intention to hurt you or scare you."

"Please stop apologizing." Her words were harsh, but her hands were gentle when they pulled my hand off her knee and clasped it between them. "That's at least the tenth time you've apologized for this. I know you mean it, but when you say it over and over again like that, it loses its impact. So knock it off."

I nodded slowly. "Does that mean you've forgiven me?"

She frowned, and the amount of time she spent considering her answer told me that that answer was no. "It depends. Does having tasted my blood change your thoughts on waiting to bite me until I'm ready?"

"A little." She tensed and I smiled reassuringly at her. "In that I don't know that I want to drink your blood again. I want our relationship to last, and I don't think that will happen if I was feeding off you. If we ever get to the point where I would normally considering turning you and I was drinking your blood, I'd throw all that away because I wouldn't want to lose you as blood source."

She swallowed. "So you _are_ thinking about turning me."

I froze at her words. _Shit. How do I answer that without freaking her out?_ I may as well be honest. Better to risk upsetting her now than to have this blow up on me later. "Someday. If things work out between us. And never against your will. I love you so much, Lena. And the only way I can spend the rest of my life with you is if you're a vampire too."

When she didn't respond, I smiled and tried to blow off the tension in the room. "But that's years away still. We don't have to talk about it now."

"Yes, we do."

I sighed, but didn't interrupt her; I could tell there was more she wanted to say. "We're different species, Allen. I'm human and you're a vampire. It's one of the basic truths of our relationship. When we ignore that, when I let your kindness make me forget that you're a predator, things like today, or like that first night in my apartment, happen."

She held out her wrist and it took me a moment to realize that the bright purple bruise on it was from when I grabbed her that morning. "I'm tired of getting hurt because of you. I've accepted that I can't know everything, but things like you needing to feed after your visions are things you should tell me. Knowing that you're already thinking about turning me means that there's one less thing I can get blindsided with in the future."

She returned her hand to mine and pulled it down into her lap. "I don't know if being in an inter-species relationship is as hard on you as it is on me, but being the human in this relationship is beyond stressful. It's hard knowing that you have the strength to snap me like a twig. It's hard being constantly afraid that you'll lose your self-control and hurt me. You're a great guy. I love you a lot, and if you were human, life would be perfect. But the fact is that you're a vampire."

I nodded solemnly. I knew the conversation would reach this point before we even started talking. As much as I loved Lenalee, the current state of our relationship had no future. "It's time for us to break up."


	18. A Serious Talk, Part 2

A/N: I think my muse might be back; in the past week I have written over 15k words to this story. Chapter 19 will be posted next week, and then this story will return to its original every other week schedule.

To Leone Brion and jy24: You two interpreted the ending of that last chapter waaaay differently than I thought you would. I'm curious how your opinions/reactions will change once you know what really happened...

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 _"It's time for us to break up."_

Hearing Allen suggest ending our relationship nearly sent me into a panic attack. I may have been frustrated and upset, and maybe just a little bit angry at him still, but breaking up was nowhere near what I wanted. Had I gone overboard in making him understand that I was having problems?

It was beyond painful thinking that Allen wanted to end things with me. I couldn't breathe, couldn't see clearly. There was only one thing that kept me from breaking down into a sobbing, blubbering mess: it was written all over Allen's face that breaking up was the last thing he wanted to do. Whatever reason he had for suggesting a break up, it wasn't because he didn't want to be with me anymore.

The statement settled heavily over us as I collected myself enough to talk without crying. And once the depression was gone, I had to fight down the anger that bubbled up. I had seen enough sitcoms to know that yelling at him for suggesting a break up would only end in us breaking up. I needed to be calm when I confronted him if I didn't want this to blow up in my face.

Choosing my words carefully, I decided that the best course of action was to find out _why_ Allen wanted to break up _before_ I tried to convince him that it wasn't what I wanted. "Why do you say that?"

Instead of answering my question, Allen pulled his hand out of mine. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a square of folded white paper. I took it when he offered it to me, taking care when opening it so that my shaking hands wouldn't rip the page. Whatever was on that paper was the reason why he thought breaking up was what was best for us, and that scared me.

I was not expecting it to be the drawing I had done earlier that day, the one of the two of us with a baby. And a good chunk of that surprise was because I thought I had thrown the drawing away. "Wha-? Where... where did you get this?"

"Jamie gave it to me when I dropped her off at her mother's."

I blinked in both surprise and relief. I had been worrying about what happened to that girl ever since she left the restaurant. "Her mother's? I thought Suman's wife had died."

Allen smiled sadly as he shook his head. "That was his second wife. Jamie's mother was his first wife."

The smile faded when he let out a heavy sigh, putting an end to the rabbit trail. "I know you want children, Lenalee. I could see it in the way you watched the kids at the zoo on our first date, and I could see it in the way you looked after Jamie today. And that drawing you did proves it."

Everything made sense now. I wasn't the only one who realized today that we couldn't have children together. "That's why you want to break up..."

He nodded at my half-whispered words, and the resolve on his face was clear; even though it wasn't what he wanted, this was something he had decided and he was going to stick with it. He was letting me go because he loved me. "As you've pointed out repeatedly tonight: I am a vampire. I can't give you a baby. You deserve to be with someone who can give you what you want."

"I want _you_ , Allen." I leaned forward and brushed a lock of his gorgeous white hair out of his face. The words felt cheesy, but they needed to be said. He needed to know that I would rather be with him and never have a baby of my own than be with someone else. "You may not be able to get me pregnant, but there are other ways for us to have kids."

His silver eyes widened in surprise. "But don't you-"

I placed my hand over his mouth to stop him from arguing with me. "However, unlike everything else we've discussed tonight, that is a conversation that actually can wait a few years. Neither of us is anywhere near ready for kids yet. So for right now we can just leave it at: yes, I want a baby someday, but I'm not going to leave you simply because you can't give me one."

Allen just stared speechlessly at me. The look on his face said that he was crying inside. I recognized that expression from the last time I saw it; it was the same look he'd had the night we got together, when I told him that I also wanted us to be more than friends.

I smiled and brushed my hand back into his hair. "I knew you were a vampire before I agreed to go out with you. If this was the deal breaker you seem to think it is, I never would have said yes to dating you."

He blinked at me in surprise. "Then you weren't about to break up with me?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I told you just before you suggested breaking up that life would be perfect if you were human. And if you hadn't interrupted and changed the subject, you would have heard where I was going with that. It's incredibly difficult being with a vampire, but if being a vampire is the only way in which you're _not_ perfect, then it would be stupid to throw this away."

He blinked a few more times before giving me a confused look that made him seem far too innocent. "But you were mad at me."

I laughed briefly at the childish whine in his voice. "Yes, I was. I was furious at you for a lot of things that happened today."

I let my hand fall back into my lap, and I fiddled with the hem of my skirt as I spoke. "But when I was talking with Anita tonight, I was able to figure some things out. I know we've already said 'I love you', but I, at least, jumped the gun on that."

Allen's eyes widened in horror at those words, but he didn't interrupt. "What I thought was love was really just infatuation. Today was an incredibly long day in which I have been scared of you, angry at you, worried for you, and frustrated by you. I thought that my feelings were getting mixed up because I was falling out of love. But what I realized tonight is that that _is_ what real love looks like."

When I paused to come up with what I wanted to say next, Allen pulled my hands from my lap and wound our fingers together. "The people who drive us the craziest are often the people we love the most."

I nodded and squeezed his hands. "Exactly. I was angry at you because I love you. Breaking up is the last thing I want."

Allen had smiled brightly at the words 'I love you', but that smile faded as he sighed and let go of my hands. "In that case, there's something you should know..."

I smiled nervously at him. I wanted him to be more open with me, but the tone of his voice scared me. He sighed again and ran his hand through his hair. "If we stay together, you won't just be the waitress anymore."

It took a moment for me to realize that he was talking about work. We'd avoided the subject of the Noah fairly well tonight, it scared me a little that he was intentionally bringing them up, and doing it _now_ of all times. "What do you mean by that?"

He frowned in thought, choosing his next words carefully. "You've been unofficially connected to the Noah ever since you started working at Bella Ragazza."

I nodded in agreement; I was well aware that that was true. Allen gave me a small smile then continued to explain. "By involving you in today's job, I involved you permanently. As long as you and I are a couple, that unofficial aspect will be gone. If we stay together, you'll be a Noah."

A pit settled into my stomach. It was painfully obvious from the way he worded that that Allen was trying to get me to break up with him again. But I needed more information before I could even begin to think about that. "What does that mean?"

Allen gave me that half smile again. "Most likely nothing. You're not going to be forced into anything against your will. But it does mean that the others will know you as part of the family." He made a face. "Though I _did_ kiss you in front of the twins today, so everyone probably already knows that."

We smiled at the joke, but then he sighed and turned serious again. "I really don't know what they're going to expect from you now. I wouldn't be surprised if they want you to tag along with me on some of my jobs. But you're human, and they like you as the waitress, so it could turn out that they'll simply stop asking you to leave the room."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "So you're saying that everything could change or things could end up staying exactly the way they are."

Allen sighed and clasped my hands firmly in his. "No. Things _will_ change. I just don't know _how_. I wish I knew. I want to be able to tell you exactly how this is going to affect you. But I can't."

In all honesty, I didn't really understand why Allen was so freaked out over this. I could see how he would think that it was his fault, but I was a pawn of the Noah long before I met him. Having my status change from 'tool' to 'top enforcer's girlfriend' could only be a good thing. There was no way I would get Allen to see that though. In his mind, he had dragged me down with him; there would be no convincing him that what he had actually done was save me. So I changed the subject.

While he rambled on, I stood from the couch and sat on his lap, my knees straddling his thighs. I tangled my fingers into his hair and forced him to shut up by pressing my lips against his. We kissed until I nearly ran out of air.

As I struggled to regain control of my breathing, I placed my forehead against his and stared into his silver eyes. "It's sweet of you to worry about me, Allen, and I'm grateful for the warning, but you need to relax. Until we know for sure what exactly they're going to expect from me, all worrying about it is going to do is stress us both out. So let's enjoy our day off tomorrow and deal with this on Monday, once we actually know what's going on, ok?"

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him. "If that's what you want."

"It is." We kissed once more then I climbed off his lap.

Allen frowned when I pulled away, but he let me guide him to his feet and into the kitchen. Anita looked up from washing the dishes and smiled at us. "I take it from those smiles that you worked everything out."

"We did." I bowed politely to her. "Thanks for letting us use your living room, Anita. We'll be getting out of your way now."

"It was no problem at all, Lenalee. Feel free to come back anytime you want to talk." She walked with us to the door, and just before she closed it behind us, she remembered something. "Oh, Allen. Cross said to remind you to not be late tonight."

"Of course." Allen made a face as he groaned and pulled out his phone to check the time. He swore under his breath and shoved his phone away. Then he pulled me in for a quick kiss. "Sorry, Lena. I've got to go."

We kissed again and then he disappeared into the night, completely forgetting about his car in the parking lot. That didn't matter though; he probably wasn't going to need it again until our date the next day.

I sighed and that made Anita laugh. "You've got it bad, girl."


	19. Alma

A/N: As promised, here's Chapter 19. See you in two weeks for Chapter 20!

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I hurried through my meeting with Cross, though it wasn't much of a meeting. He'd already heard the story of what happened through Klaud, so all I had to do was 'explain myself'. I quickly confirmed that everything Klaud had reported was true, filling in a few details, and then I was on my way to other things.

Normally that would have meant various tasks for the Noah, but after the whole kidnapping-robbery-explosion thing, I was given the night off. Which I of course knew was code for they wanted me gone so that they could talk about me. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. I hoped it meant that they were going to talk about bringing me into the inner circle, but I'd been promoted to my current position six weeks ago, so it was probably much too early for that. Which meant that whatever they were talking about would most likely turn out poorly for me.

Unfortunately, being free of the Noah for the night meant that I was available to meet up with Alma. He had been texting me every hour on the hour, annoying me with demands for an explanation of what had happened that day. I almost regretted using him to make contact with Cross.

I didn't care much for his choice of venue, bars weren't really my thing, but Alma was turned in New York City at the height of prohibition, and there were just some things that not even time could change. As I joined him at his table, the purple haired vampire smirked at me and immediately repeated his earlier questions. "So, what happened today? What made you so freaked out that you felt it necessary to talk in code?"

I sighed as I picked up the drink he pushed towards me. "You know I can't tell you that."

He raised an eyebrow at my attempt to put an end to his questions. "That's never stopped you before."

Catching the spark in Alma's eye that clearly meant he was going to pester an answer out of me, I took a sip of my drink before I sighed and gave in. But only a little. Just handing him the answer wouldn't have been any fun at all. "You saw the news today, put two and two together."

He frowned briefly before recognition dawned on him. But to my surprise, instead of pestering me for details, he dropped the subject. "Oh. Ok. Never mind then."

We sat in silence for a bit. It was nice; Alma almost never sat quietly like that. But then it was over and he started questioning me again. "So what's really on your mind, Allen? I know it's more than what happened this morning, or you never would have actually agreed to come out with me."

I frowned, hoping he wouldn't notice how embarrassed I was. "I did something stupid today."

Alma just laughed at me. "That could mean any of a dozen different things. You're going to have to be more specific."

When I did nothing but stare at him, he laughed again. "Let me guess: it's got something to do with a certain human, about five foot six, green hair, and totally out of your league?"

His description of Lenalee was not amusing. It was also somewhat unnerving that his guess was so spot on. "I tried to break up with her today."

Instead of teasing me like I expected, Alma hit me over the head. "Ow! What the heck was that for?"

My purple haired best friend glared at me, more serious than I'd seen him in a long time, and that scared me. "I realize you've only been a vampire for five years, Allen, but you can't possibly be _that_ stupid. A girl like that, kind and pretty and willing to be with a vampire, takes decades, if not centuries, to find. You're so incredibly lucky to have found her so soon; most of us are still looking. Throwing that away is without a doubt the stupidest thing you have ever done."

"Are you finished?" I sighed in mild annoyance; this wasn't the first time one of my friends had tried to convince me that Lenalee was my soulmate. It was sort of my own fault, I first referred to her that way long before we started dating, but the way my friends took it and ran with it was quite frustrating. "I said _'tried'_. I _tried_ to break up with her. She flipped out at me almost as much as you just did."

He relaxed, but then it turned into a serious stare. "Allen, what's really going on?"

I didn't want to tell him what was actually bothering me, but I knew from experience that whether I told him willingly or not, Alma was going to get it out of me. "... I involved her in today's job..."

I was going to elaborate, but Alma apparently didn't need more of an explanation than that. He shook his head and looked like he was thinking about hitting me again. "Allen, she was a pawn in their organization long before today. If anything, you made her life easier. You know that. So why are you being so- never mind, stupid question."

There was a weird look on his face when he abruptly cut himself off. If I'd been thinking, I would have let the subject drop and wouldn't have said what I said next. "What's that supposed to mean?"

So instead of talking pleasantly about the weather or current events, I got to sit there and listen to Alma lay out, in great detail, just how hard I'd fallen for Lenalee. None of it was news to me, everything that had happened that day had shown me that I was pretty hopelessly in love, but it was quite embarrassing having someone else point it all out for me.

Especially when Alma started comparing Lenalee to Lou Fa. I had no clue what my high school girlfriend had to do with my current relationship; I hadn't even liked Lou Fa in that way. But apparently, that was Alma's whole point. I had dated a girl I hadn't been attracted to for over a year simply because it was what she wanted, yet I was so hung up on Lenalee that I couldn't even break up with her for her own good.

After about an hour of him talking nonstop, I finally got a word in edgewise. "Oh and how's _your_ current relationship going?"

As expected, the words shut him up completely. _If only I'd thought of that earlier._

Unfortunately, the silence didn't last as long as I would have liked, as he found a way to turn my question around on me. "At least I've had sex this week. Are you ever gonna take the plunge?"

I glared at him. And when his teasing expression changed to one of concern, that only made things worse. He placed a hand on my shoulder in what was meant to be a comforting gesture. "Come on, Allen, I'm just worried about you. You know that being a virgin isn't good for your health."

Shoving him off me hard enough to knock him out of his chair, I growled at my well-meaning friend. "Yes, Alma. I'm well aware of what happens to vampires who wait too long. You, Cross, and even the Noah, have all made that perfectly clear. I've got years before I'm in any danger, so just drop it already."

My anger towards the subject didn't faze Alma. He climbed back in his chair and shrugged as he downed the last of his drink. "All I'm saying is that you've got a girlfriend. And from what I know about Lenalee, she'd be more than willing to be your first. You should just do it and get it over with."

.x.x.

~Five Years Earlier~

It was Neah's idea that I go to the party. Yes, I had once been quite interested in going, but that was six weeks ago, back when Mana was still alive and I was still human. Now that I was a vampire, the idea of a pre-graduation celebration just seemed stupid - the whole idea of high school seemed stupid. Unfortunately, my uncle was much too good at reading me and had retorts to every argument I tried.

It was the reminder that my friends would be there that got me out the door. I hadn't seen the three of them since the day of the accident. They had all come to the hospital at various times while I was comatose, but the chaos that was senior year of high school prevented them from coming to see me once I was awake. That and Neah had sent them away whenever they tried. He always made up tactful excuses about me being asleep or not being well enough to handle visitors, but the truth was that I was a newly turned vampire and letting them in wasn't a risk he was willing to take.

And that was the real reason I didn't want to go to the party. I had had very little human contact in the three weeks I'd been a vampire, and I was scared of myself and what would happen if I lost control. Neah insisted I was ready, but I didn't really believe him.

My plan to stick to the background at the party went out the window the second I arrived. Half the senior class had come to the party, and a good chunk of them had only come because they heard I was going to be there. People I barely knew were coming up to me and sharing their condolences or congratulating me on my recovery. The attention was terrifying.

And hypocritical. It bothered me immensely that people who had ignored me for the last four years because of my strange hair color now wanted to know everything about me simply because I'd been in a tragic car accident. Even the worst of the bullies were all acting like we'd been best friends for years, and that was quite disturbing.

Eventually the hubbub over me died down, and I was able to escape to a relatively quiet corner with my friends; 'relatively' because I was still getting used to my heightened senses and everything seemed much louder than I was accustomed to. We got interrupted occasionally by people wanting to see me, but for the most part, we were left alone.

It was nice to see the three of them. At first. We laughed and talked and joked like nothing had changed. But the longer I sat with them, the more I realized that things between us were never going to be the same. Now that I was a vampire, everything was different, including my feelings towards my friends. I was almost glad that we were going our separate ways after graduation, that way I could just pretend that things were normal for the short time remaining before they went off to college; I wouldn't even have to tell them I'd been turned.

I sensed the arrival of another vampire before I noticed him. I wasn't particularly worried; I knew exactly who it was. After all, prior to my own turning, there was only one vampire in the senior class. And it was no secret that Alma was a vampire; we all even knew that he was over a hundred years old. So it wasn't the presence of another vampire that bothered me; what threw me was that I could tell that he was a vampire. I could smell him from the moment he walked through the door.

"Allen!" Alma's face lit up with excitement as he called to me from across the room. I forced a smile in his direction. _Great, someone else who came to the party just to offer me sympathy. At least Alma's actually somewhat of a friend._

Seeing how excited the purple haired vampire was, my friends quickly vanished, not wanting to get caught up in his antics. Alma sat beside me and threw his arm around my shoulder. "It's good to see you up and about, Allen!"

"Thanks. It's-" I cut off the polite response that I only half meant when I noticed how distracted Alma looked. "What's wrong?"

He jumped briefly and turned his focus back on me. "Sorry. There's a newborn vampire here somewhere, but I can't tell where and it's bothering me."

I quirked an eyebrow at the comment. Apparently, Alma hadn't noticed that I was a vampire yet. Looks like I would finally have a chance to mess with him. "Oh? And you're upset that you're not the only vampire here anymore?"

Alma laughed awkwardly at the joke. "Not quite. The vampire I'm picking up is pretty newly turned, and it's dangerous to have a vampire that young around this many humans. I want to find it so I can figure out what's going on."

I smiled innocently at him; I was definitely enjoying that he couldn't seem to tell that I was the vampire he was looking for. "So what's stopping you from finding it?"

"There are traces of its scent everywhere, and that's making it really hard to locate. The scents of absolutely everyone here have been tainted with it. Even you ... smell... like..." His words trailed off as it clicked. I smirked at him as his eyes grew wide, letting out my fangs to tell him he was right.

He immediately punched me in the shoulder. "Why the hell didn't you say something?!"

My smirk deepened. "Payback. You've been messing with me all year; it was finally time to return the favor."

Alma's playful mood suddenly vanished. He grabbed either side of my head and forced me to look at him. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and outside of human hearing range; it wasn't hard to catch the danger in it. "You're less than a month old, Allen. You shouldn't be around this many humans at once. You know that. You could seriously hurt someone if you were to lose control. Where the hell is your sire and why on earth did they let you come here tonight?"

I hissed back at him, more than a little pissed off by what he was saying. I knew he was right to be worried, newborn vampires and human parties truly didn't mix, but that didn't keep me from feeling hurt by his lack of trust. I grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands from my head. "I've been here for two hours and everything's fine. If something were going to go wrong, it would have happened by now."

The logic calmed him down, but only a little. He obviously didn't believe that a newborn vampire could be around that many humans and not cause problems. Honestly, it was a little creepy seeing fun-loving Alma that serious. "So your sire doesn't know you're here."

I snorted in annoyance. "Neah drove me here himself. Knowing him, he's probably parked at the end of the block, keeping an eye on me. I just lost my father; do you really think coming to a party was _my_ idea?"

"No, I guess not." Alma laughed lightly then went back to being serious. "How are you doing with that?"

"It's hard, but I'm adjusting." I shrugged, having no other words to describe what losing Mana was like.

He smiled knowingly. "Yeah, having been turned so soon afterwards can't have made that any easier. You've got a whole slew of new things to learn, so you can't just grieve over your loss. Do you resent your uncle for turning you right away?"

I shook my head. "Actually, I think it helped. It's something for me to focus on rather than sitting around stewing about everything. It's a reason for me to move on with my life."

When he just stared at me, things got awkward between us. I blushed, or rather, I would have blushed if I weren't a vampire. "What? What'd I say? What's wrong?"

Alma narrowed his eyes, almost like he was studying me. "You're too young to already like being a vampire. That kind of acceptance takes months. And you're also too young to have enough control to be at a human party. So what's really going on, Allen?"

I sighed heavily, not really wanting to explain this to Alma. "Neah says it's because we're from a strong bloodline."

Alma clearly didn't buy my answer, but he didn't press for details. He stood up, grabbing my wrist and pulling me with him. "Let's get out of here. We need to celebrate your turning properly."

I normally would have protested being dragged into whatever the purple haired vampire was planning, but what happened next made me glad I had a reason to leave the party. Before Alma could pull me from my spot, Lou Fa and Shifu returned. And she had figured out what was happening. "You're leaving? Where are you guys going? Can we come too?"

I was about to say that we weren't going anywhere, but Alma beat me to it. "Sorry guys, vampires only. Allen and I have things to do. You'll have to find some other time catch up with him."

 _So much for not telling my friends that I'd been turned._


	20. Lou Fa

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

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Honestly, I was somewhat surprised that Allen hadn't immediately brought up what had happened the night before upon picking me up. We were halfway through our date and he hadn't once mentioned what was going to happen on Monday with the Noah or any of the relationship issues we had worked through. It was exactly what I needed, a day free of the chaos my life had become; just him and me, out on a date together. I wasn't even jumpy around him like I had expected to be. Knowing that he didn't want to drink my blood had actually eased my fears quite a bit.

It was a great afternoon. But, following the same pattern my life had followed for the previous few weeks, that was exactly when something happened to screw it all up again. Though, to be fair to Allen, this one wasn't even remotely his fault. It was my turn to cause drama between us.

We were walking through the mall while we waited for our table to be ready. I was hungry and the mall was too crowded, but it was still fun window shopping and holding hands with Allen. I had even convinced him to take his gloves off. We stopped so that I could use the bathroom, and when I came out, there was a woman hugging my boyfriend.

She was hugging _my_ boyfriend. _Hugging_ him.

The anger and jealousy that flared inside me was very unexpected. I had always thought I was a kind and reasonable person; I had never hated someone at first sight before. But I didn't care who this woman was or why she was hugging Allen. She was touching my boyfriend, and that was _not_ acceptable.

I had felt intense jealousy like that before. There had been occasions where Road had invaded Allen's personal space and it had made me so angry that I wanted to force her away from him, but this was completely different. And not just because I was terrified of the blue haired vampire girl. After all of the emotional chaos that I had been put through the day before, I finally had my feelings towards Allen figured out, and while jealousy was not a very mature emotion, it was definitely one that coincided with love. It was a girlfriend's prerogative to dislike the women who hit on her man. So long as I didn't take any of my anger out on Allen, my jealousy towards this random woman was perfectly acceptable.

Those jealous feelings were made even worse by the fact that the woman was pretty. And she was Asian, which was apparently Allen's type - even his friends were Asian. She was slightly older than me, which I realized was roughly the same age Allen would be if he were still human. Her long black hair was in twin braids down her back, and she wore big wire-rimmed glasses. I could tell just by looking at her that she was smarter than me. She was dressed similarly to Allen, like she was on her way a business meeting. I was definitely threatened by this woman. If she made a move on Allen, I didn't think I'd be able to hold on to him.

She had let go of Allen by the time I reached them, but they were still standing together, talking and smiling. I hooked my arm with his possessively, forcing a polite smile at the woman. "Hello."

Allen smiled brightly at me, clearly ignorant of the fact that I was moments away from blowing up. He grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to him. "Hey, Lena! This is Lou Fa; we went to high school together."

She smiled pleasantly at me. "It's nice to meet you, Lenalee."

Still fake smiling, I politely returned her greeting, and that's when I recalled where I'd heard her name before. _'Lou Fa'... 'High school'..._ This woman was Allen's ex-girlfriend.

My anger towards the mysterious woman had calmed down a little when Allen had introduced her so calmly, making me think that I might have jumped to conclusions, but that realization made it flare back up. The memory of him saying that he hadn't liked her in that way was forgotten, I only recalled that she had supposedly had 'an obsessive crush' on him. And that was not something I could tolerate. Allen was _mine_.

It didn't help that her next words to me were a compliment. "That's a gorgeous necklace; it really brings out the purple in your eyes."

"Thanks. It was my mother's." I kept that fake smile plastered on my face, while inwardly I was seething. _How dare that bitch be so kind to me!_

Before the conversation could continue, Allen's cell phone rang. He smiled sheepishly at us after checking the caller ID. "Sorry. I have to take this. I'll be right back."

And then he was gone, leaving me alone with Lou Fa.

My smile fell to a glare; I no longer needed to pretend now that Allen was gone. But before I could hiss any of the nasty things I was thinking, Lou Fa blushed; she almost looked scared of me. "I take it from that look that Allen told you we used to go out."

"He did." The cold affirmation was all I dared to say.

"And did he tell you that we broke up when he was turned?" I couldn't help raising an eyebrow in surprise; Allen had definitely not told me that. Lou Fa's blush turned into a wistful smile. "I still liked him, but I could never be with a vampire. That whole inter-species relationship stuff was never really my thing."

Hearing that she was no longer interested in Allen helped eased my dislike quite a bit, but I still could not stand that woman. Besides, for all I knew, she was lying to throw me off my game.

Lou Fa suddenly smiled brightly at me. "I'm glad he found a vampire woman to be with. He deserves someone who appreciates how unique he is."

I blinked at her, stunned by the conclusion she had reached. My next words slipped out before I realized I was even thinking of correcting her. "I'm not a vampire."

Lou Fa immediately grew flustered. "Eh?! Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I just assumed- I mean, he said he could never be with me because- but you're-!"

Right as I was about to tell her that she wasn't making any sense, her babbling cut off and she looked at me with an expression of awe. "You must be something really special. For him to be so serious about you and for you to be human..."

Her words made all my jealous suspicions come rushing back. "How do _you_ know how serious he is about me?"

Lou Fa briefly looked offended by my implication, but then she smiled sweetly at me. "He called you his girlfriend. We dated for over a year and he never did anything like that with me. If I wanted him to hold my hand, I had to take his. I'm probably going to hate myself for asking this, but how long have you been together?"

"This is our fourth date." I suddenly felt incredibly silly for being so intolerant of Lou Fa. Allen and I had only been officially dating for three weeks; I had no claims to him.

Her brown eyes went wide. "And he's already kissed you? Wow..."

I wanted to know what she meant by that, but Allen came back and I didn't want to ask that in front of him. And as if he had heard her last comment, which was entirely possible, he wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my forehead. "Sorry about that. What'd I miss?"

His touch made me feel better, but I was still very uncomfortable with having his ex-girlfriend around - though knowing that he'd never actually called her his girlfriend made a huge difference. I forced my fake smile back in place. "Nothing important."

If he didn't believe me, he didn't let on, and Lou Fa was quick to change the subject. "So, how have you been? Have you stayed in touch with any of the others?"

"Just Alma, but he's like a rash. I haven't been able to get rid of him for years." Allen laughed at his own joke. "How about you? You must be halfway through med school by now, right?"

She blushed, obviously touched that he remembered. "Yeah, school's crazy right now, but it should be worth it in the end. Did you make into the police academy?"

Her words made me laugh rather loudly at Allen. The top enforcer for the most dangerous mob family in the world wanted to be a police officer when he was a kid? That was quite a change in career tracks. "You wanted to be a cop?"

He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, I might have wanted that for a little bit back in high school, things were different back then."

Lou Fa laughed at his attempt to downplay whatever it was he was hiding. "'A little bit'?! It was all you talked about for four years!"

"Really?" I was blown away by what I was hearing. Brushing a lock of his gorgeous white hair behind his ear so that I could see his face, I stared seriously at Allen, silently asking him to be honest with me. "What happened?"

The face he made was adorable. "Ah well, between the whole vampire thing and some technical issues with me having been born in London, it just didn't work out."

Before I could decide if I believed him or not, we were interrupted by the beeper from the restaurant. He smiled brightly, obviously thankful for a reason to end this conversation. "Looks like our table's ready. It was good to see you, Lou Fa."

"You too. See you around sometime."

.x.x.

Fate really seemed to have it out for me. Running into Lou Fa while out with Lenalee, while not the worst thing that could have happened, was definitely up there. I may not have had much experience with dating and relationships, but even I knew that having my current girlfriend meet the girl I dated in high school was bad. And it just had to happen while Lenalee was potentially still mad at me for drinking her blood the day before.

But Lenalee was an incredibly nice person. She was going to be perfectly polite through the awkward situation and then it would be over before I knew it. I just had to smile and get through it.

I knew something was wrong the moment Lenalee linked our arms together. If she hadn't been so close to me, I might not have picked up on it; she looked perfectly normal and composed. But her pulse was going crazy, and her eyebrow was twitching ever so slightly. I wondered what had happened in the two minutes she was gone to make her mad at me, but then she spoke. That slight edge to her voice finally helped me put it together: Lenalee didn't like Lou Fa.

I wondered why that was, they'd never met until right then, but before I could find out, my phone was ringing and I had to step away to answer some questions for Tyki. Fortunately that was all he wanted or we might have had a problem.

When I returned, the girls were just standing there, staring at each other. I asked what I missed, and when Lenalee said it wasn't anything important, that's when it finally clicked. She was jealous of Lou Fa.

I didn't get it. Lenalee had absolutely nothing to be jealous of. Except for maybe the fact that Lou Fa knew me when I was human, but that was also true of Alma, and Lenalee had had no problems with him. Her jealousy was mystifying. And incredibly flattering. It surprisingly felt really good that my girlfriend was possessive of me like that. Plus it meant that if she was still mad about the blood drinking thing, that problem was fixable.

Of course, right as I was enjoying myself the most, Lou Fa went and mentioned that back in high school, I had wanted to be a cop. And that was a huge problem. Lenalee was smart. And she knew me really well. It was all too possible that she would put it together and figure out that I was undercover. And that would be the end of everything.

I nearly had a panic attack, but Lenalee just laughed it off. She thought it was hilarious that I had once been interested in law enforcement. And she seemed to buy my lie about why it never happened. The problem had worked itself out, but I was going to have to be extra careful around her in the future. This was something she'd remember if I ever slipped up in front of her.

As we made our way back to the restaurant, I entwined my fingers with hers. We walked in silence for a bit, but then I remembered the jealousy I'd noticed earlier; I was curious if Lenalee would be honest about it or if she'd lie to my face. "So, what did you think of Lou Fa?"

I felt her pulse spike briefly before it settled into a rhythm that indicated that she was going to lie. "She seemed pleasant enough."

It was impressive, a tactful response that wasn't completely a lie. Exactly what I should have expected from someone like Lenalee. "Nice try, but I know you didn't like her."

She stared suspiciously at me, and the expression was adorable. "What makes you say that?"

"I'm a vampire, remember?" I nearly laughed at her reaction. "I could sense it."

She huffed, but then her heart rate calmed down. "Fine, I hated that bitch. Knowing that you dated someone before me was much easier back before I knew she was pretty."

Her words caught me by surprise, and it wasn't the part where she cursed. "Is she pretty? I never noticed."

"Yeah, right." She snorted in disbelief. "Don't lie to me."

We arrived at the restaurant then, so I had a little bit of time to come up with a response as we were seated. Then came the usual arguing with the waiter over my ID when I tried to order wine for us, which Lenalee took in stride, but it frustrated me to no end. By the time we were alone again, I had lost my train of thought. "So, where were we?"

Lenalee narrowed her violet eyes at me over her wine glass. "You were lying to me about not noticing that your ex is pretty."

"I wasn't lying. Back in high school, I barely even noticed that she was a girl."

She snorted and spit her mouthful of wine back into her glass. The laughing smile she gave me was gorgeous. "Ok, that I believe."


	21. Flashback

A/N: In a bit of a change of pace from the previous chapters, here's a flashback to Allen's childhood in which he meets Cross for the first time.

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~Ten Years Earlier~

It was an unseasonably warm day in early March and many people were out and about, running errands or just enjoying the weather. Fourteen year old Allen Walker sat alone on a bench outside the library. He had been planning on spending the afternoon doing research for a school paper, but the weather was so nice that the thought of spending the next few hours inside the stuffy building was awful. So, allowing himself a rare break from his unwavering dedication to his schoolwork, the white haired teenager decided that the assignment could wait while he soaked up a little sun. But not too much of course; even the slightest hint of sunburn would turn his pale ivory skin to a bright tomato red.

Allen was far from bored as he sat there. The library was on a fairly busy street and there was a constant flow of people for him to watch, and the young teen loved to people watch.

He was watching a well-dressed elderly woman, imagining that her lavish spending meant that she was out shopping for gifts for her grandkids, when something happened. Allen may have left his life on the streets behind when he got adopted and moved halfway around the world, but that didn't mean he hadn't held on to a few tricks. And that's how he saw the tall black haired man getting ready to steal the rich old woman's wallet from her purse.

Without putting any thought into the action, Allen sprang from his seat on the bench and prepared to intervene. The woman happened to turn around right as the man reached into her purse, catching him in the act. She screamed loudly, drawing the attention of the entire crowd. Rather than backing off, the man grabbed her purse and ran. Allen saw all of this and quickly chased after the man, white hair following black into an alley.

By the time the police arrived at the scene, the purse snatcher was lying unconscious in the alley, disarmed of the gun he had been carrying, and Allen was standing over him, panting for breath with his lip split open and his previously neat clothing in disarray. Despite the pain he was in, he smiled triumphantly at having retrieved the old woman's purse. Neither of the two officers knew what to make of the scene before them, and unfortunately for Allen, he was in possession of stolen property, which meant that he was the one the cops arrested.

Allen tried to explain as the lady cop cuffed him, but Officer Moa was not in the mood for his lies. She ignored his repeated assertions that he was innocent, and moved to put him in the back of the squad car while they waited for paramedics to arrive to treat the unconscious man. But Allen collapsed in pain before they reached the car, and ended up being taken to the hospital with the purse snatcher.

After his lip had been stitched up and his broken rib had been examined and treated, Allen was escorted to the police station where he was finally allowed to tell his story. Neither Officer Moa, nor her partner Charles, nor their captain believed that the scrawny teenager had disarmed a man twice his size and retrieved the stolen purse, which just so happened to contain several thousand dollars in cash and jewelry. In their minds that meant he had orchestrated the whole thing and the actual thief was an innocent bystander. They questioned him repeatedly, looking for any slip ups in his story.

It was during this time that a certain redheaded vampire by the name of Cross Marian came to the station on official FBI business. He laughed to himself as the officers worked themselves into a frenzy over the purse snatching. Normally he would have stayed out of the local's business, but he owed the captain a favor, so when he had gotten what he came for, he provided his assistance. He normally wouldn't have cared enough to actually put effort into helping, but the redhead had gotten a look at the teenager they were holding, and the kid had intrigued him.

Cross looked over the evidence, which consisted of a gun with no serial number and no prints, the old woman's purse, and the suspect's backpack. It was the backpack that caught his attention. The bag was clearly that of an average middle school student, and not a criminal mastermind. Nothing about it or its contents said that young Allen Walker was anything but a normal teenager. He was curious as to why the officers thought that the kid was the perpetrator, and after hearing their account of the incident, requested to interview the kid himself. It wasn't his jurisdiction, but he convinced the captain to allow it, after all, Cross was a vampire and would be able to tell if the kid was lying.

Allen was tired, frustrated, and hungry after being falsely accused and stuck in that cold, windowless interrogation room. On top of that, he hadn't been allowed to take any of the pain medication that the hospital had given him, and he was in agony over his broken rib. He tried to get as comfortable as he could in the chair he was cuffed to, but knew it was futile. When the door opened, he straightened up and smiled as pleasantly as he could at the man who entered, after all, manners were everything; he wouldn't be able to convince these people of his innocence if he gave into the anger and spewed curse words at them.

This visitor was someone he hadn't seen before. Allen took an instant dislike to the man with his long red hair and his haughty swagger, but when the first thing the man did was plop a tray down on the table in front of him, a tray that contained a protein bar, a cup of water, and his bottle of pain pills, the teen buried those feelings away. Whoever the redhead was, he was allowing him to take his medication, and that meant he couldn't be all that bad.

Cross scowled at the scrawny white haired kid as he swallowed the pills and wolfed down the protein bar. Everything about the teen's appearance screamed innocent and helpless, yet his experienced eyes could see the strength and danger behind the façade. There was no doubt in his mind that Allen Walker was a force to be reckoned with.

The pair stared at each other for a few minutes before Cross lost his patience and barked at the teen. "Well? Aren't you going to say something?"

Allen straightened a little at the demand. "I was waiting for you to ask a question, sir."

The teen's politeness simultaneously pleased and disgusted Cross. "Don't you want to know who I am first?"

The white haired teen shrugged as best he could with his broken rib. "You're a Fed. What more is there to know?"

Slightly impressed, Cross questioned him further. "And how do you know that?"

Allen shrugged again. "Local cops are all the same, self-important with the power that comes from having a badge. You're wearing a nice suit, and you carry yourself better than they do, so you must be federal."

At the impressed look that Cross gave him, Allen smirked devilishly. "Of course, there's also the fact that you're wearing an ID badge that says FBI."

The smirk fell when Cross narrowed his eyes. "That's quite the smart ass attitude for someone in your predicament."

Allen spoke as levelly as he could, trying to keep his frustration out of his voice. "I didn't do anything. I'm innocent. I swear."

The look Cross gave him sent a chill down his spine. "So you didn't get in a fight and knock someone out?"

The white haired teen frowned. He was smart enough to know that he was in trouble for that, it was probably considered assault or something, but he also knew better than to lie about it. "No, that happened, ...but I didn't do any of the other things they think I did!"

"Relax, kid." Cross leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the table, making the tight-laced captain cringe from where he was watching behind the one way glass. The redheaded vampire didn't care though, he'd seen enough to know that Allen really was innocent. "Just calm down and tell me what happened."

Allen was about to do so when a thought occurred to him. "I'm fourteen. Aren't there laws against questioning minors without their parents present?"

Cross shrugged, inwardly laughing at the kid. "Only if you had asked for them to be present, which you haven't."

"Oh, ok." The redhead expected the boy to immediately ask for them to call his parents, but instead the kid leaned back in his chair and sighed. Truthfully, Allen didn't want to have to explain to Mana that he'd been arrested. Even if he was innocent and had only been trying to do the right thing, he couldn't stand the thought of disappointing his father.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Allen recounted the story for what felt like the hundredth time. He didn't know why the Feds were interested in his case, but whoever this redhead was, he actually seemed to believe that he was innocent, so he didn't care to ask.

Just as Allen finished, a commotion in the hallway interrupted them. He recognized the voices as that of the captain and the old lady whose purse had been stolen. She heard they had arrested the man who took her purse and was demanding to see him, but the captain was refusing to let her into the room.

Cross smirked to himself at the noise. He suspected that the stuffy captain wouldn't accept his report that the boy really was innocent, but this would prove it once and for all. He stood from his chair and opened the door.

The old woman stepped around the captain the moment the door opened; she looked around and then turned accusingly back to the captain. "I thought you said you'd arrested the man!"

The captain glared at Cross for opening the door. "We did. That's him there."

Allen frowned when the captain pointed to him. "I didn't do anything!"

The old woman scowled fiercely at the sight of the teenager handcuffed to a chair. "The man who took my bag was tall and had dark hair. That's the kid who chased after him, trying to get it back for me."

While Cross smirked smugly, Allen shook his left arm at the captain, making the handcuffs chaining him to the chair rattle. "That's what I've been saying all afternoon! Can you take this off now?"

The next few minutes were a flurry of activity. Officer Moa came and freed Allen's arm, then she was sent to get the boy some food. Allen spoke a little with the old woman, who was grateful for what he'd done and furious that he'd been arrested. She left to have words with the captain, leaving Allen alone in the interrogation room with Cross.

Allen glanced at the redhead as he sat down across from him. "What happens now?"

"Now they'll call your parents, and you'll wait here until someone comes to pick you up." Cross once again leaned back and kicked his feet onto the table. "In the meantime, I have some questions for you."

The white haired teen frowned. He didn't really want to be alone with the arrogant redhead any longer, but Cross was clearly not going anywhere any time soon. "Then go ahead and ask so we can get this over with."

Cross smiled to himself; that smart aleck attitude was back, which meant he could have some fun with the kid. "Why'd you do it? Why chase a guy twice your size over a stranger's purse?"

"It was the right thing to do."

The questions continued long after Officer Moa had returned with food and the fast food meal had been consumed. Allen was developing quite the love-hate relationship with Agent Cross, who was begrudgingly quite impressed with the teen. It finally came to an end when an officer poked his head into the room. "Someone is here for Mr. Walker."

Cross followed as the officer escorted Allen to reception area where a tall, dark haired vampire was waiting. The redhead recognized his fellow vampire immediately, wondering what on earth the other was doing there; this was not somewhere he ever would have expected to see the Earl's right hand man. He got his answer not a moment later when Allen brightened and threw himself at the vampire. "Uncle Neah!"

The anxious look on Neah's face shifted to one of worry as he caught sight of the stitches in his nephew's lip and the pain-filled way in which he moved. "Are you ok, Allen? They didn't do anything to you, did they?"

The white haired teen shook his head. "This is from earlier. I'm fine now."

Cross snorted. "Only until the medication wears off."

Neah scowled as he finally noticed the redhead, but Cross just brushed off the suspicious look. He tossed the pill bottle he'd grabbed from the table to the other vampire. "The kid has a broken rib from the fight he was in earlier. He's free to go now, but he might get called back for questioning again later."

Cross continued in a voice so low that the humans, specifically Allen, wouldn't be able to hear him. "I should have known that the kid is one of Mana's. How's your brother holding up?"

Neah gave his old friend an appreciative smile. "He's been doing a lot better lately. Having Allen around has made quite a difference."

The words made Cross raise an eyebrow. "You think he's going to turn this one?"

"If he doesn't, I might do it myself. There's something special about Allen." Neah smiled then turned his attention back to Allen.

The white haired teen was asking the officers if he could have his backpack back, so that he wouldn't fall behind on his schoolwork. While they waited for someone to go fetch it, Neah knelt down so that he was at Allen's eye level. "Are you sure you're ok, Allen?"

The boy nodded. "I'm fine. But can we not tell Mana that I got arrested?"

Neah turned a piercing glare on Cross. "He got arrested?!"

"It was a misunderstanding; he can give you the details later. He's lucky I was here, everyone else thought he was guilty."

Allen scowled at the redhead's words, but he refrained from commenting on them in favor of rifling through his backpack and making sure everything was there. Satisfied that nothing was missing, he threw the bag over his shoulder, only to immediately drop it at the jolt of pain that shot through his chest. Neah picked up the backpack for his nephew, and began to escort the teen away. "Come on, Allen, let's get you home."

Cross caught up with them at the elevators, he had one piece of business left with them. He pulled out his business card and offered it to the white haired teen. "Here kid, take this. Give me a call when you've finished high school and we can talk about you joining the Bureau."

Allen frowned as the redhead tousled his hair and walked away, but he stuffed the card in his pocket anyway. He may not have liked the redhead much, but joining the FBI after high school was an interesting idea.


	22. Lulubell

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you all liked the flashback. :) This chapter brings us closer to the reason this fic is rated M...

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Allen teased me all the way through dinner about my jealousy towards Lou Fa. It was incredibly annoying that he was having fun at my expense. But right before it got to be too much, he stopped. What happened next was a bit of a surprise: Allen thanked me for feeling that way. "I know I've been giving you a hard time about it, but it actually means a lot to me that you feel like that about me. It's been a long time since I've had someone care that deeply about me. It's been nice to feel wanted again, so thank you for that."

I didn't know how to react to that, but I didn't have to. Allen pulled me into a tight hug and rested his chin on my shoulder. "And thank you for not letting me break up with you last night."

That was something I _did_ have a response to. I laughed lightly and tangled my right hand into his short white hair. "I think what happened today proves that I'm not going to be ready to give you up any time soon."

We shared a laugh, and then he kissed me goodnight. I wished he would have stayed longer, but we both knew I needed sleep. Not only did I have class in the morning, but the next day was when my role within the Noah organization was going to change, and because we didn't know what that change would be, I needed to be as rested as possible. So even though I wanted Allen to come in so I could make out with him for a bit, letting him leave was the smart thing to do.

I took a sleeping pill that night, something I usually only did when I had a big test the next day, but the same reasoning applied here: I didn't want stress to keep me up. That didn't stop it from wreaking havoc on me at school the next day though. With each passing class, I grew more and more nervous about what would be awaiting me at work that night. I knew whatever it was would be good in the grand scheme of things, but that didn't stop me from being concerned that it would turn my whole life upside down.

Contrary to all of the fears and worries that Allen had put in my head, absolutely nothing different happened with the Noah on Monday. Like usual, I kept an eye on them while I waited on other tables. They didn't acknowledge me any more than they normally would have. It was quite anticlimactic.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened the next day either. In fact, it was Thursday night before something different happened, and what did happen wasn't anywhere remotely near what I had been expecting.

I went out to the bar with Allen and his friends after work, just like I'd done every Thursday night since I'd met them. We laughed and drank, and they had a competition to see who could tell the most embarrassing story about Allen. It was a little uncomfortable, especially since Alma's story involved Lou Fa, but overall the night was fun.

Allen drove me home, and it might have been because of the alcohol, but we ended up inside, making out. But not on the couch like the last few times. This time we were on my bed.

Our kiss was heated and passionate. We lay on our sides on top of the blankets, our legs tangled and keeping us locked together. I brushed my hands into his hair, loving the feeling of the soft white strands between my fingers. The feeling of his lips on mine was intense, and I couldn't help moaning as his tongue explored my mouth.

Allen's hands found their way under the hem of my blouse, and there was something electric about his bare fingers caressing my lower back. It was unsurprising that the digits began to work their way upwards, not stopping until they found the clasp of my bra. He unhooked it easily, never once removing his lips from mine.

That electric feeling intensified as his fingers moved under the now loose lace to my breasts. The close position of our bodies made the angle a bit awkward, but having Allen fondle my breasts still felt amazing. His strong fingers kneaded the flesh and played with my nipples, making my back arch further into him as pleasure filled my body.

I broke the kiss when I needed air, and Allen used the break to his advantage and pulled my shirt and bra the rest of the way off. Seeing me bare chested always had the same effect on him: he froze in his tracks to stare at me with his mouth hanging open in awe. I wished he'd go back to kissing me, but I truly didn't mind the staring, it was incredibly flattering that he lost track of everything else when my breasts were exposed.

Taking advantage of his momentary lapse, I did something I hadn't done before and unfastened the buttons of his white dress shirt. It fell open to reveal a strip of toned chest that was as milky white as the rest of him was. He finally snapped out of his stupor as I slipped the fabric off his shoulders. There was a brief moment of worry that he would get upset and pull the shirt back on - he was still incredibly self-conscious of his arm, but to my relief, he sat up and pulled the garment the rest of the way off.

My eyes stopped briefly on the unusual swirling pattern that was created when the black skin of his left arm met his naturally pale shoulder, but I quickly moved past that. It was odd and intriguing, but there was something much more important that I wanted to see.

Allen's bare chest was a truly magnificent sight. He was in great shape, his chest and abs were well toned and there wasn't a single trace of fat anywhere. He was slightly too skinny, but that was to be expected given that he could barely pass for eighteen. Even though it was flecked with numerous scars, presumably from the car accident that had almost killed him, his pale skin was gorgeous.

Rolling onto my back as Allen knelt over me, I swiftly licked my lips to moisten them before he began kissing me again. The kiss felt so good, and as he began to bring his body closer to mine, I quivered in anticipation over what came next. I couldn't wait to feel our bare chests pressed together as we tangled up in a passionate kiss.

That wasn't what happened.

Instead of enjoying the sparks I expected to feel when his toned body touched mine, I shrieked and jolted away from him at the very different feeling that zipped through my body. "God you're cold!"

The look Allen gave me in response to my outburst was adorable. He slowly sat back on his knees and stared down at me, completely mystified by my reaction. Then the confusion faded and he laughed lightly. "This is my natural body temperature, Lena. I'm a vampire, remember? Of course it's going to seem cold to you."

I relaxed against the mattress with a heavy sigh, feeling my face heat up from the blush that covered it. Trying to push the feeling of mortification away, I forced a laugh and tried to make a joke out of it. "This is your fault, you know. You make it far too easy to forget that you're not human."

Allen's response was to smirk darkly back at me. He leaned forward slightly, letting the light catch his exposed fangs. It definitely made him look scary. "I can change that if you want."

Before I could decide if I wanted to play along or call his bluff, because he clearly was bluffing, Allen collapsed beside me in a fit of giggles. His laughter was infectious, and before I realized it, I was laughing along with him.

In fact, I laughed so hard that I ran out of breath and ended up choking when I tried to inhale. Allen helped me sit up, but it did little to ease the coughing fit. His kissed my forehead and climbed off the bed. "I'll go get you some water."

He disappeared through the door and was back before I got the coughing under control. I sipped gently at the glass he brought me, noticing that his mood had changed. Something was making him tense, and he was only half paying attention to me as he stood beside the bed. Seeing him like that sparked a feeling that there was danger nearby. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." Those three whispered words scared me, but fortunately, Allen kept talking. His voice was quiet, and it sounded like he was focusing really hard on something. "I heard a weird noise on my way back from the kitchen. It sounds like ... like something's trying to get in, maybe? It's coming from the balcony."

I frowned as a tried to pick up what he was hearing, but soon gave up. I relaxed as I set the water glass down on the nightstand. "Oh, that. It's probably just the cat."

Allen had relaxed when I did, but he immediately tensed with my words. "I didn't know you had a cat."

I shrugged and gestured for him to come back to the bed, not knowing what his problem with the cat was. "I don't. It's a stray. Or at least, I think it's a stray. It doesn't have a collar and wanders aimlessly around the building. It comes by every once in a while, and I look after it a bit."

There was more I was going to say, but the look on Allen's face made me fall silent. He was a cross between scared and pissed, and that terrified me. "Have you ever let it in?"

I might normally have challenged him, wondering why it was any of his business, but the seriousness of his tone made me answer the question. "Once or twice. When the weather's bad or..."

My words trailed off when Allen began to make his way out of the room, swearing under his breath. I really didn't understand why he was so worked up over a cat, but I did the only thing I could do: I pulled my shirt on and followed him out into the living room.

He was glaring death at the familiar black cat that was pawing at the sliding glass door. This was by far the angriest I had ever seen him before. A few more steps and he yanked the door open, almost pulling it out of its track. The words he hissed next sent a chill down my spine and nearly made me start hyperventilating. "What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing, Lulubell?! Get out of here! And _don't_ come back!"

I barely noticed that the cat turned and ran when he spoke to it. I was too focused on the name Allen had called the cat to think about anything else. "Allen. What...?"

The next thing I knew, Allen's arms were around my shoulders in what was meant to be a soothing hug. It wasn't much of a comfort though; he was nearly as tense as I was. Then he let out a resigned sigh and I felt him relax. "Lulubell can shapeshift into a cat. That was her at the door."

I really didn't know what to think of that news. It was difficult to process that the cat I sometimes looked after was actually one of the Noah. I was angry at having my privacy invaded like that and at having been deceived. I was also embarrassed to have fallen for it, but above all, I was scared. I had no clue what the Noah were hoping to accomplish by spying on me, and every reason I could think of was more terrifying than the last. "So she's been spying on me?"

Allen's hold on me tightened, and I could tell from the livid expression on his face that he hadn't known that Lulubell had been coming around. "Looks that way."

He kissed my forehead and moved away. "I should probably go find out what's going on."

It wasn't until he stopped moving and turned back to me that I realized I had grabbed ahold of his wrist. I blushed, but didn't let go. The thought of him leaving me alone was terrifying, but I couldn't admit to it. "Sorry."

Allen pulled me close, allowing me to bury my face in his still bare chest. I knew I was shaking, but I couldn't stop it. "Do you want me to stay, Lena?"

 _Yes_. It felt too childish to say out loud though. I was an adult, I'd been living on my own for years now, I shouldn't need Allen around just to make me feel better. Trying to collect myself, I said something I hoped would make Allen leave. "No, it's ok. You have more important things to do. You can leave."

I was of course forgetting that Allen was a vampire and would know I was lying. But he didn't call me out; instead, he just wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close. "Right now, there is nothing more important than making sure you're ok. So I'm not going anywhere until you're ready, ok?"

Not waiting for me to respond, he guided me back into the bedroom. He kissed my forehead gently then nudged me towards my closet. "Why don't you go change for bed? You'll feel better in more comfortable clothes."

What he was saying made sense, so I grabbed my sleeping clothes and ducked into the bathroom to change; Allen may have seen me topless, but that didn't mean I was ready to change in front of him.

When I came back in shorts and a tank top, Allen had put his shirt back on. He kissed me gently then led me over to the bed. He pulled off the top blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders, and then he picked me up and pulled me onto the bed with him.

We lay together much like when we were making out, only this time there was a fuzzy purple blanket separating us. Allen had his arms wrapped securely around me, and my back was firmly against his chest. It vaguely reminded me of all the times I'd crawled in bed with Komui after our parents died; I felt safe and secure in Allen's arms. I both loved and hated that. The independent woman in me was not happy that I felt like a scared child and needed my boyfriend to comfort me. "I know you have things to do, Allen. You don't have to stay with me tonight."

He laughed and kissed the top of my head. "There will be plenty of time for me to do that stuff later. I'll stay as long as you need me to, so just relax and go to sleep."

It took a little while, I was that freaked out over what happened, but I did eventually fall asleep in Allen's embrace. It wasn't the sex that might have happened if we hadn't been interrupted, but it was much more intimate and meaningful.


	23. Friday

A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews! Hope you guys ready for more drama...

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Lying on her bed while Lenalee slept in my arms was fantastic. Or it would have been, if I hadn't been so pissed at Lulubell. I was far too angry over what had happened to fully enjoy the opportunity to be that close to the girl I loved.

I only stayed for a couple hours, just until I was sure that Lenalee was sleeping and would stay asleep. I wanted to stay all night, but she was right when she said that I had things to do. So I left her a note, located her spare key so that I could lock the door behind me, and hoped she would understand that I had to leave.

Unfortunately, my jobs that night all involved working with Tyki, and he had undoubtedly heard that I had caught Lulubell in Lenalee's apartment. Which meant all kinds of teasing from the older vampire.

Tyki, however, did no such thing. The first thing he did was express surprise that I showed up. "You're actually here, Shounen. I thought you'd be so pissed at us that you'd blow me off tonight."

His surprise confused me, but halfway through telling him that, I actually processed what he'd said. "Of course I came. Not coming because I was angry- wait. What do you mean 'us'?! You _**all**_ knew?!"

The dark haired vampire shrugged nonchalantly, but he still to a step backwards like he was scared of me. "Lulubell's been keeping an eye on the waitress since long before you got involved. That girl shares that same naïve moral streak you have, so we send Lulubell around occasionally to make sure that she's keeping her mouth shut."

His reasoning made sense, but that didn't make me less angry at learning that they all knew that Lulubell was keeping tabs on my girlfriend. I tried to argue with him, but Tyki just rolled his eyes at me. "Did you think we'd stop keeping an eye on the waitress just because you started dating her? If anything, we've been watching her more."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I may not have known what he meant, but I did know that whatever it was was definitely an insult to me.

Tyki sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "...How can I explain this without pissing you off? ... In vampire terms, you're still a baby."

"Hey-!"

He glared at me as he cut me off. "And you know that it's true, so save your protests." He waited until he was sure that I was keeping my mouth shut before continuing. "You're the little brother that we all have to look out for. We have to make sure that your chosen mate is suitable. Love may be good enough for the Earl, but it's not for the rest of us."

I didn't know it at the time, but Tyki was, in a weird mixed up way, trying to warn me of what was going to happen at the meeting that night. But I didn't catch that, and instead let his explanation calm my anger down to annoyance. "So you've been spying on my girlfriend? You guys really need to learn some boundaries."

The subject dropped and we went to work. I lost track of time after that, but I knew it was morning when my phone buzzed with a text from Lenalee. -{{ Thanks for staying with me last night. }}-

Tyki gave me a look for checking my phone in the middle of a job, but I ignored him and typed out a quick reply. -{{ No problem. Hope you're feeling better. Have a great day at school. }}-

-{{ Thanks. See you tonight. }}-

-{{ Love you, Lena. }}-

-{{ Love you too. }}-

I smiled happily as I put my phone back in my pocket, but that smile fell when I noticed Tyki standing right behind me; he had clearly been reading over my shoulder. "You guys are far too cutesy. It's nauseating."

"Then mind your own business and don't read over my shoulder." I scowled at him and walked away.

.x.x.

It wasn't all that surprising that Allen was gone when I woke up. He'd already done more than enough by staying till I fell asleep; expecting more from him would have been beyond selfish.

I thought I had recovered from the shock of discovering that Lulubell was the cat I'd been caring for, but as I arrived at work that evening, all that terror came rushing back. It took everything I had to get out of my car and go inside. At least it was a Friday; the restaurant would be so busy that I wouldn't have to spend much time at all around the Noah.

... Ignoring the fact that I would probably see Allen quite a bit that night and he was technically one of them.

My white haired boyfriend met me in the break room like always, greeting me with an intense kiss. When he pulled away, I expected him to say something about what had happened, but instead he held out his hand towards me. "Here's your key back."

I blinked at the piece of golden metal resting on his palm. "When did I give you a key?"

Allen gave me an embarrassed smile. "I didn't want to leave your apartment unlocked after everything that happened, so I took it with me this morning."

That had to be one of the most adorable things I'd heard him say. Acting on impulse, I closed his fingers over the key. "Keep it. You should have a key to my apartment."

I expected Allen to say something humble about it being too soon in our relationship for that, but instead, he stiffened. His fist closed tighter around the key, and when he spoke, it sounded forced. "You realize that by giving me a key, you're giving me permission to come in whenever I want, right?"

His question confused me, and he laughed lightly at the blank look on my face. "Vampires have to be invited inside private dwellings, remember?"

I knew that, of course, but I hadn't realized that that connected to this. "So by having a key, it's like you always have permission?"

He smiled gently at me. "Not quite. The key has to be given; it wouldn't work if it were stolen. So even though I've had your key all day, I still would have needed your permission to get in."

He offered me the key back. I hesitated for a moment then once again wrapped his fingers around the key. "I still want you to have it."

"Really? We haven't been together all that long."

I laughed at him for that. "You do realize that that's what I expected you to say the first time, right? And my response to that is: after everything that's happened lately, I think I'll feel safer knowing that you've got a key to my apartment."

This time Allen's response was to wrap his arms around my waist and pull me into a deep kiss. When he finally broke away, I was gasping for breath. He gave me a small smile before leaving the room. "Sorry. I've kept you too long. You have to get to work now."

.x.x.

I didn't see Lenalee much the rest of that evening, but given that she was probably avoiding Lulubell, that was to be expected. On seeing the blonde vampire, I wished that I too had something else I could be doing. Mostly because I knew that I couldn't yell at Lulubell like I wanted to. I wasn't as angry as I'd been before talking to Tyki, but I was still pretty pissed.

To make it all even worse, Lulubell just had to go and tell them that I was shirtless when I caught her. And of course, the others had to take that as proof that I had had sex that night. I saw no need to correct them, and I would have just let them continue to think that, but the questions they began asking were too prodding. My lies were mostly convincing, but then Lenalee came into the room to refill drinks, and she just happened to let it slip to Wisley that we actually hadn't gotten that far. The others got even more annoying after that.

I was beyond glad when it reached closing time and we had to wrap up the meeting. I was _done_ hanging out with these people.

"Before we end today, we have one last order of business." Sherril's words filled me with relief; I was almost free. However, that good feeling died a little with his next words. "We've got a special job for you, Allen."

I was curious as to what he was talking about, but I also couldn't help the feeling of dread that began welling up inside me. My psychic power was telling me that something bad was about to happen, and as such, I was on high alert. "What kind of job?"

Sherril gave me a look that seemed to say that I knew exactly what he was talking about. "There's someone we need you to take care of."

I had to resist the urge to swallow in fear. I had a guess as to what he meant and it was not good. "And by that you mean...?"

The tall vampire stared levelly at me as he slid a manila folder across the table towards me. "Turn them or kill them. Your choice."

My stomach dropped and a chill went up my spine. This was happening too soon. I wasn't supposed to be getting this order until after I was in the inner circle. Getting that order was supposed to be my cue to end the undercover operation, but I wasn't far enough into the organization yet. Pulling out now wasn't an option. This was very, very bad.

That feeling only worsened when I learned who my target was supposed to be. For the second time that month, I found myself wishing that not breathing would allow me to pass out. On the other hand, the whole thing also made me quite angry. _What do they think they're playing at?_

The folder contained only one item: a picture of a very familiar woman. Lenalee's bright violet eyes stared back at me from the photo. Finding my voice, I glared suspiciously at Sherril. "What the hell is this supposed to be?"

The Earl cleared his throat and finally joined the conversation. "You've played around with your human girlfriend long enough, Allen. It's time for you to make a decision."

Sherril picked up where he left off. "Miss Lee needs to be dealt with. As the waitress, she has seen far too much, and that makes her quite the liability."

Tyki snickered and interrupted his brother. "Ironically, that's your fault, Shounen. We might never have noticed just how much she knows if you hadn't started dating her."

He fell silent again under the glare Sherril was shooting at him. When he was satisfied his brother was not going to interrupt him again, Sherril turned his attention back to me. "Anyway, since you created the problem, you're the one who has to fix it. You can either kill the girl or-"

"Take her as your wife." The Earl's voice cut through Sherril's speech like a knife.

The words actually caused me physical pain. "You expect me to _marry_ her?! But we've only been together for a month! We just exchanged keys, isn't that enough commitment for you people?!"

Silence was the only answer to my outburst, which had ended with me slamming my hands down on the table and knocking over several glasses. The others studied me for a moment, and then Sherril finally continued speaking. "Yes, those are your options. You can either drain her dry, or you can turn her and make her your wife. And you will, of course, be rewarded for your service. Complete this mission and you can finally have that thing you want most from us."

In my outrage, it took a bit for me to understand what he was getting at, and when I did, my knees buckled; fortunately, my chair had remained upright and I didn't fall all the way to the floor. I gaped at the Earl in disbelief. "You're going to give me Uncle Neah's position?"

"In that you will have the vacant spot in the inner circle, yes." My gaze snapped back to Sherril when he spoke. "You will still be quite a way from taking over as Second though."

Even with that caveat, it was a tempting proposition. They were finally going to let me into the inner circle; I was going to be so much closer to everything I'd been working towards. Sherril's next words snapped me back to reality. "However, nothing is going to change until you have dealt with Miss Lee. Got it?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice. _Dammit. How the hell did I get myself into this mess? And how am I supposed to get out of it?_

Killing Lenalee was not an option. And not just because I wasn't capable of killing anyone. Those two words together like that made me want to vomit. I loved that girl. I would never be able to end her life.

On the other hand, I couldn't turn her either. Scratch that. I could and I definitely wanted to. But that applied to someday, months or years from now, not after barely a month of dating. We had been on a grand total of four dates. How on earth could I possibly be expected to propose so soon?

I was officially stuck between a rock and a hard place.

.x.x.

When I went to clean up the Noah family's room after the restaurant closed, everyone was already gone. Everyone except Allen that is.

I could tell just from looking at him that something was wrong. His white hair was even more disheveled than usual, like he'd frequently been running his hand through it, the way he did when he was stressed. He was also sitting in his chair, staring intently at a blank wall. And he didn't move when I came in. "Allen? What's wrong?"

Ho bolted into alertness at the sound of my voice, clearly unaware that he had been so spaced out. "Oh. Lenalee. When did you come in?"

I laughed lightly at his flustered reaction. "Just now. What happened? You seemed pretty out of it."

His silver eyes clouded with an emotion I couldn't read. But it was gone so quickly that I couldn't even be sure I'd seen it. Allen smiled at me. "Nothing. It's just been a long day."

I might have believed him had I not caught sight of all the broken glass littering the table. Something had definitely happened. I stared levelly at my boyfriend, trying to make my voice stern without sounding angry. "Don't lie to me, Allen."

He sighed in defeat and ran a hand through his messy white hair. "Fine. But we can't talk here. How about if I meet you at your place after you're done with work?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, trying to decide if he was serious or if this was an evasion tactic. "Sure. But I'm not going to be done for a while yet. What are you going to do in the meantime?"

Allen stood and kissed my forehead then he shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and turned to leave the room. "I'm going to go find something to drink."

I was about to remind him that he was in a restaurant and there was plenty to drink here. I even had a cute joke about checking his ID. But then what he really meant hit me. He was talking about blood not alcohol.

I watched him go in silence then set about cleaning up the broken glass from the table. That was even more proof that Allen was stressed; if he were in his right mind, he never would have left me to clean that up alone. I hoped agreeing to meet him later would pay off. Wondering what had stressed him out was stressing me out.


	24. Another Serious Talk

A/N: This chapter should answer some of the questions you guys have. Hope you're ready for more drama. ;)

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

I finished cleaning my assigned areas as quickly as I could. I needed to get home before the stress and curiosity ate me alive. I needed to know what it was that had freaked Allen out.

I had no clue how long it would take him to 'grab a bite' - one of Alma's favorite puns - but his car wasn't in the parking lot, so I figured I'd beaten him to my apartment. And that was good. It meant that I'd have time to brew some tea and calm my nerves a little before he came to talk. Assuming, of course, that he actually was going to show up.

It was such a shock to see Allen already there and sitting at the kitchen counter that I shrieked and dropped my keys. He was on his feet in an instant, smiling soothingly and picking up my keys for me. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."

I kissed him briefly then laughed it off. "Don't worry about it. I didn't think you'd actually come, so it was a bit of a shock that you were already here."

He smiled, but it was definitely faked. He was still freaking out about whatever it was that had happened earlier. Choosing to ignore that for the moment, I put my purse and keys down on the counter and stepped into the kitchen. "Do you want some tea?"

"No. I'm ok."

I laughed lightly at the polite refusal. It was just like Allen to tell me 'no' whether or not he actually wanted what I was offering to make. "Are you sure? I'm already going to be making some for myself."

His smile turned embarrassed. "I'm sure. The last thing I need tonight is to break more cups."

I raised an eyebrow at him as I switched on the burner under my chrome teapot. "So you're the reason for all that broken glass?"

"I kinda ... lost my temper a little during tonight's meeting." Allen frowned and looked down at the ground, letting his bangs obscure his face.

His reaction made me laugh as I pulled down a mug. "I've had to clean up far worse in that room than broken glass. Don't beat yourself up over it."

I had my back turned to him, so I couldn't see the look on his face when he replied. "Still, I'm sorry to have given you extra work."

Shaking my head at him, I leaned back against the counter to wait for the water to boil. "If that was you losing your temper 'a little', I'd hate to see what you're capable of doing when you're really mad."

The face he made at my words made the scar on his face crinkle up. "I'm an enforcer for a dangerous criminal organization, Lena. I don't think _anyone_ wants to see what my temper is truly capable of."

I laughed and turned back to the stove, picking up the teapot and pouring the hot water into my mug. Then I grabbed the mug and a spoon and turned back to Allen. I gestured towards the living room with my head. "Shall we go talk now?"

"Sure." Allen shrugged noncommittally as he sighed. He led the way to the other room, but instead of sitting down on the couch like I expected, he strode purposefully across the room.

I wondered what he was doing, but before I could ask, he began pulling the blinds closed. That's when it clicked. He was being paranoid over what had happened with Lulubell the night before. Admittedly, I too felt safer with the blinds closed, so I sat down on the couch and focused on my tea while I waited for him to finish.

When Allen finally sat down, he didn't sit beside me on the couch; instead, he sat in the nearby armchair. He stared emotionlessly at me for a moment before he sighed, leaned forward, and placed his hands on my knees. The look he gave me was quite serious, and it honestly scared me a little. "I don't know if this is something I should be telling you. They didn't explicitly tell me that I couldn't, but if they find out I told you, it could cause problems."

It was no secret that the 'they' he was referring to was the Noah. I set my mug down on the coffee table and placed my hands on top of his. "Allen, if this is going to get you in trouble, maybe you shouldn't-"

Allen shook his head as he interrupted me. "I can deal with them. I just need you to know that this is a serious situation." He frowned and chewed nervously on his lower lip. "If I'm going to tell you what's going on, you're going to have to promise me that you won't freak out."

I blinked, slightly stunned that he thought that this was going to upset me. "Allen, again, if this is that serious, you don't have to tell me anything. I want to know what's bothering you, but I'm fine with not knowing if-"

I cut off when he shook his head again. "No. This is something you need to know."

Allen fell silent and dropped his silver gaze to his lap. He stayed like that for a couple minutes, and I waited patiently for him to collect his thoughts, trying to keep myself from getting too tense. With a heavy sigh, he finally looked back up at me. "So, I told you a few weeks ago about how we - the Noah - deal with humans who have caused us a significant amount of problems."

"You did." I nodded solemnly; I vaguely remembered Allen telling me something like that back when he'd told me how he'd been turned.

"And I also told you that it's a last resort for when nothing else will work." His gaze dropped to our hands as he gently squeezed my knees. "It's reserved for people who are out of control, but sometimes we use it when someone simply knows too much."

I nodded again. "And what does that have to do with what happened today?"

His frowned deepened. "They've identified a threat within the family, and I've been ordered to deal with it."

A cold chill ran up my spine. I could see now why he was so freaked out over this. "You've been ordered to kill someone."

Allen nodded once and made a face at our hands. "Kill or turn, yes."

There was silence between us as I collected my thoughts on the matter. There was something about his behavior that was confusing me. "I know you're against killing, but isn't that a good thing?"

His head snapped up and his gaze bore holes in my head. His confusion was written all over his face, so I elaborated. "Isn't it good that they're trusting you with this? Shouldn't it mean that they're finally ready to let you in the inner circle? You've told me how badly you want that; isn't that worth doing this for them?"

The look he gave me told me that the reasons I just listed were exactly why he was so conflicted over the situation. His gentle side was at war with the part of him that had been fighting for his rightful place in the inner circle.

He clearly wasn't going to respond to my questions, so I frowned and changed the subject. "Who is it anyway? And what does this have to do with me? You really didn't have to tell me any of this."

Allen picked up my hands and clasped them in his as he gave me a sad smile. And I knew that whatever he said next would be the piece I was missing; Allen was about to tell me exactly what his problem with the situation was. "Lena. It's you. I've been ordered to kill _you_."

I have no clue how long I sat there, frozen in place, as I tried to process what he was telling me. It wasn't like I wasn't expecting this day to come. I'd known for a long time now that this whole thing would most likely end in my death. But this was just so sudden and unexpected.

When I finally collected myself, I sighed heavily, latching onto the only reason I could think of for things to have changed. "They know about my notebook, don't they?"

I had no clue how they would have found out about it; I was beyond careful with the object that would ruin my life if it fell into the wrong hands. I kept it very well hidden; even with those having the cat that occasionally visited turn out to be Lulubell, I was positive that she had never seen it. I never talked about it at work, and I had only ever shown it to one person; and I knew without a doubt that Allen hadn't told them about it.

Allen shook his head at my question. "I don't think they do. They were far too calm. If they knew about that they'd have been livid."

While reassuring, his words only confused me more. "Then what changed? Why am I suddenly a problem?"

The embarrassed look on his face would have been adorable if the situation weren't so tense. "It's because of what happened last Saturday. They said that they hadn't realized just how much you'd witnessed until we started dating."

Ignoring the part where he was blaming himself for this, because it actually was his fault, I voiced my confusion. "So they decided to order you to turn me?"

He frowned and looked away from me. The words he said next were so unexpected that I could have sworn that I was hearing him wrong. "Technically, I've been ordered to marry you."

.x.x.

Lenalee stared wordlessly back at me. I could practically see the gears spinning in her head as she tried to process what I'd told her. Then she blinked and the look was gone, replaced with a serious stare and a steeled glint in her violet eyes. "I'll do it. But you have to do it properly."

I blinked at her, completely baffled by the seemingly random declaration. "Huh?"

She kept up her serious stare as she explained. "I want you down on one knee, with a ring, in the middle of a date. Got it?"

It finally clicked. She was talking about a proposal. But that was just as baffling as it was before I understood what she was talking about. "You want to-! But, Lena! We don't have to give in to them. We can run away or-"

"Allen." She glared at me in such a serious way that I squirmed in my seat. "How far do you think we'd get? You of all people know exactly how good they are at tracking people down. No, the smart thing is to do what they're asking."

"But-!"

Her glare grew even more withering at my attempt to argue with her. "They won't expect you to turn me until after we're married, right? So all we have to do is get engaged. Yes, that's a big step given how long we've been dating, but it'll buy us time."

Even more confused than I was before, I interrupted her once again. "Time for what?"

"To find a way out of this." With those few simple words, I finally understood what my friends meant whenever they said that Lenalee was too smart for me. She'd clearly thought this through a lot more thoroughly than I had.

Her serious look suddenly morphed into a deep smirk. "Or to plan a wedding."

Lenalee laughed at the startled look on my face, her violet eyes sparkling with amusement. She leaned forward and kissed me. "We _are_ dating, Allen. We have to be open to the possibility that we might actually decide to get married. Right?"

She did have a point. "I guess..."

She playfully raised an eyebrow at my obvious reluctance. "Or have you already changed your mind about wanting to turn me someday?"

When I didn't respond, she stood and pulled me to my feet. Before I knew it, I'd been led to the front door. Lenalee kissed me on the forehead as she shoved me outside. "Go home and think about it. We'll talk again once you've calmed down, ok?"

.x.x.

"Alright, what is it? What is so goddamn important that you had to drag me all the way out here in the middle of the night?" Cross growled as he plopped down on the chair across from me. His annoyed tone wasn't making what I had to say any easier.

"I want out."

Cross stared at me. I couldn't read his expression and that made me even more nervous. He looked me up and down several times, and I knew he was reading me with his power. The redhead had the unnerving ability to read people and tell not only if they were lying, but what the truth was. And I'll admit, I was scared. I didn't know if I was telling the truth or not.

Five minutes passed before he finally spoke. "What happened?"

I sighed heavily. "I've been ordered to turn Lenalee."

"So? What's the big deal? Turn your girlfriend."

I snorted. "That would be a lot more convincing if your _fiancée_ weren't human. And you're familiar with the Noah; you know that they made it more difficult than that."

Cross nodded. "They told you to kill her or turn her."

I slumped back in my seat. "Technically I've been ordered to kill her or ... marry her."

The raucous laughter that followed made me cringe. When Cross was finally done, he leaned his chair back and kicked his feet up on the table. "Do you, the _real_ you, like this girl?"

"Of course." I blinked at him. Trying to figure out what he was thinking was giving me a headache.

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. "If the circumstances were different; if you weren't undercover and your life wasn't so complicated; would you want to spend the rest of your life with her?"

That required some thought. But I was surprised by how quick and obvious the answer was. "Yes."

"Then ask her to marry you." The bluntness of his tone frustrated me quite a bit.

"But-!"

"Allen. The Noah don't really expect you to drag her down to city hall and marry her right away. An engagement between you two would be more than enough to satisfy them."

I sighed, recalling my earlier conversation with Lenalee. "That's what she said."

Cross gave me a weird look. "You've talked to her about this?"

"More like, I told her what was going on." I sighed again and ran a hand through my hair. "I asked her to run away and she refused. She said that if we got engaged, it would buy us enough time to make a decision that wasn't rushed."

The redheaded vampire was suddenly sitting properly again. He leaned across the table towards me. The look in his eyes was unreadable and the tone of his voice was firm. "This is what you're going to do: first, you're going to go out and buy a ring - a nice one with a real diamond. Then you're going to take that young woman out on a date: a nice restaurant, a good bottle of wine, a walk in the park. Then you're going to get down on one knee and propose to her. She'll say yes, because she loves you, and because she knows she has no choice. After that, you're going to take her back to your place and seal the deal with her. Got it?"

I nodded dumbly. There was no arguing with Cross when he got like that. But it was that last step that had me tongue tied. Fortunately, the redhead seemed to sense that and explained before I had to ask. "The Noah know you're a virgin. The only way they'll let you get away with not turning her is if you two finally go all the way."

 _Oh_.

We sat there in silence for a little while. I kept my gaze locked on the table when I finally spoke. "Is that your _official_ opinion, sir?"

I couldn't see his face, but I felt Cross giving me that look again. "Does it need to be?"

"I don't know." I sighed and buried my head in my arms. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way."

Cross laughed. "I still don't see what the big deal is. She's already told you that she'll say yes."

I snorted at him. "The big deal is that I've only known her for three months. Our first date was less than a month ago."

"Yet your first instinct after getting the order to turn her was to talk to her about it. Your relationship may be young, but it's healthier than most marriages." It took a second for me to realize that Cross was giving me a compliment. And that was creepy. Almost as creepy as the deadly serious look he gave me next. "Let me ask you a question, Allen. You're young, so you still think of time like a mortal. Have you ever thought about your future with this girl the way a vampire would? Have you realized that ten years down the road, she's going to be in her thirties and you'll still be eighteen? Or that someday she'd be more believable as your grandmother than as your girlfriend?"

He paused for effect, but I jumped in before he could continue. "I have. And this is something we've already discussed. She and I both know that if we want to stay together, I'm going to have to turn her someday."

I was slapped upside the head. I scowled at Cross, but the look on his face scared me into biting my tongue. "Stop being a wuss and go propose to your girlfriend." I tried to protest, but he spoke again before I got the words out. "And yes, that is an order."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

A/N #2: I'm not going to be posting anything next week because of life stuff, so that means that Chapter 25 will be up in three weeks, not two like usual.


	25. Some Serious Thinking

A/N: As promised, here's Chapter 25!

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I closed the door behind Allen then leaned back against the wood with a heavy sigh, letting myself sink down to the floor. My mind was reeling from what he had just told me, and though I had kept it together in front of him, I wasn't nearly as confident as I had made him believe.

 _Marriage. The Noah want us to get_ _ **married**_ _._ That was definitely not what I was expecting when Allen said that my position within the organization was going to change. Though to be fair, I don't think it's what he was expecting either.

I had only known the boy since September, since the second week of the semester. In some ways, it felt like the time had flown by, but in others it felt more like years had passed. Meeting Allen had changed all of my priorities. Before I met him, my biggest concern was getting through a semester of hard classes without ruining my GPA, and now I was so focused on him and the Noah that I was barely remembering to do my homework. It almost made marrying him seem like the logical next step.

I truly had no problem with the idea of marrying Allen. I loved him madly. I was friends with his friends. I had nearly flown into a jealous rage upon meeting his ex-girlfriend. I was even willing to give up my dream of having a baby for him. Spending the rest of my life with Allen made perfect sense.

But only if I ignored the fact that he was a vampire.

Because marrying Allen meant becoming a vampire myself. And with this new development, there was no more 'someday' attached to that. We could delay it from happening right away by getting engaged, but this was no longer something that was years into the future of our relationship. If we were lucky, we'd be able to push it off until I graduated at the end of the school year, but I knew how the Noah operated. If Allen and I didn't find a way out of this situation, there was a good chance that he would be turning me before winter break was over.

I almost laughed at the irony of that. I started the school year hating vampires, and now so much had happened that I was going to be one by the time the school year ended.

But none of that changed the fact that I didn't want to become a vampire. Not anytime _soon_ anyway. I knew that after another year or two... or five... of dating Allen, I'd be willing to be turned - after all, he'd already worn me down enough that I was ready to have sex with him - but I was far from being ready to give up my humanity.

A knocking on my door pulled me from my thoughts. I sighed and spoke loud enough that the person knocking would be able to hear me through the door. "Go away, Allen. We can talk in the morning."

There was silence for a moment before someone spoke. "Lenalee? Are you alright?"

I scrambled to my feet at the sound of Anita's voice, pushing aside the embarrassment that came from assuming she was Allen. Opening the door, I forced a polite smile onto my face; if Anita already knew that something was wrong, there would be no point in pretending everything was fine, but I had no desire to let her know just how wrong things were. "Sorry about that. I-"

"Don't worry about it." She smiled, but it quickly turned serious. "I saw Allen leave; he looked really upset about something, and that made me think that you two had a fight, so I thought I'd come check on you."

Her concern was touching, but I had zero clue how to explain to her what had happened. After all, I was fairly certain that Anita had no idea what Allen did for a living, and I wasn't about to tell her that. "Thanks, but I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You've been crying..."

At her words, I swiftly brought my hands to my face and brushed away the tears that I hadn't noticed had fallen. "Yeah, I'm sure. Allen and I are fine. We have some things to work out, but it's nothing major. It just needs to wait till a time when we're not so exhausted."

Anita laughed lightly, clearly buying my half-lie. "Makes sense. Alright then, I'll let you get to bed. I hope you feel better in the morning."

I smiled, waiting until she turned and walked away before closing and locking the door behind her. Following my own advice, I headed to the bedroom. I wasn't sure how well I was going to sleep, but I should at least do it in my bed; if Anita hadn't come when she did, I might have ended up falling asleep on the floor in the entryway.

I managed to push my swirling thoughts aside long enough to get ready for bed, but it all came screaming back to me as I turned out the light. I lay there, staring up at the ceiling I couldn't see in the dark, praying my anxiety would go away so that I could sleep.

At least I didn't have to work the next day. After the excitement of the previous Saturday, the Noah had decided to cancel this Saturday's meeting and start the Thanksgiving break early. They usually only cancelled their meetings the week of the holiday, it was a ploy to make their underlings think that they and their families were important, but because of what had happened at the bank, they decided they needed a bit of a cool down period. I thought the whole thing was stupid, but after all the chaos I'd been through lately, I certainly wasn't going to object to having a lighter work schedule for the next week.

Especially if it meant that I could sleep in.

.x.x.

Alma, in his usual way, had perfect timing. _Or is that 'horrible timing'?_ Either way, Allen got the purple haired vampire's text right as he was leaving the café where he'd met with Cross. Alma and Krory were out at the bar and they wanted Allen to come join them.

Allen wasn't sure if he wanted to go out drinking with his friends, but he did know that he did not want to be alone. If he went home, he'd be stuck thinking about his current dilemma, which Cross had only made even more complicated. In retrospect, he really should have known that talking to the redhead would only make things worse; Cross almost never did what Allen wanted.

And so the white haired vampire went out with his friends. He put on his best poker face, and neither of the other vampires suspected that anything was wrong. The fact that the younger was drinking more than usual was chalked up to him having a night off for the first time in months; Allen never risked getting drunk when he could get called into work at any moment. In fact, the two older vampires quite enjoyed watching the uptight younger vampire let loose and get a little tipsy.

But the atmosphere changed rather quickly once Allen got buzzed enough to drop his poker face.

It didn't take much prying to get Allen to open up and tell them what was wrong. After all, he was already drinking alcohol.

Alma crumpled up a napkin and threw it at the younger vampire; it bounced harmlessly off his cheek, but it served its purpose of getting Allen to look at him. "Just tell us what's going on, Allen. You know we're going to get it out of you, so save yourself a headache and just tell us."

Allen made a face and dropped his hands to his lap, absently playing with his bottle of beer. "I've been ordered to turn and marry Lenalee."

The other two vampires shared a confused look. "And that's a problem?"

The question was answered with a glare that would have made anyone other than his friends run in fear. Instead, Alma met the glare with an equally serious stare. "We've been over this, Allen, and in the last week no less. That girl is without a doubt the best thing that's ever happened to you."

Allen made a face at the comment, annoyed that his friends were going to start up with the whole 'soulmate' thing again. But that was not where Krory took the conversation. "Alma's right, Allen. We've both known you since you were human. And we both agree that your sire made the right choice in turning you. You were meant to be a vampire. And Miss Lenalee was meant to be your wife. Turning her is the right choice for you to make."

That was an argument that Allen did not have a retort to. After all, he had known for a while now that he wanted to turn Lenalee someday.

When Allen just stared stubbornly at them, Alma decided to try a different approach. "Maybe you'd feel better about this whole thing if the two of you had a sexual relationship. It might be easier for you to think about turning her if you were to sleep with her."

Allen swore under his breath at the suggestion. The other two vampires shared a knowing look, thinking straight-laced Allen was pissed off by the idea of sleeping with his girlfriend just to make himself feel better about turning her. It came as a bit of a shock to them when the white haired vampire took a swig of his beer and leaned calmly back in his chair. "That wouldn't change anything. We're there; we just haven't done it yet. Things keep getting in the way. If Lulubell hadn't interrupted, we'd have done it last night."

That was news to his friends, and after all of their past pestering on the subject, they wanted to question him about it and find out when Allen had changed his mind about sex. But they both knew the younger vampire well, and therefore they knew that he was intentionally trying to change the subject.

"That just proves my point, Allen." Alma punched Allen in the shoulder. "You're on the fence with turning her because you haven't actually slept with her yet."

"And you're both _missing_ my point!" Allen practically shouted the words in frustration, but he quickly lowered his voice to avoid making a scene in the crowded bar. "This isn't just about turning her. They want me to _marry_ her. That's something that affects my _real_ life. If I do this, she is going to be my wife in my real life, not just in my undercover life, and I really don't think I can handle that."

"Yes, but if you turn her, you'll be able to tell her the truth."

Allen froze at the words, staring wide-eyed at Krory. His friends thought that the younger vampire was merely stunned by the simple suggestion, but then his bottle of beer shattered under his tight grip, the golden liquid sloshing all over his hand and coating the breaking glass as it fell to the floor.

What had been meant as a reassurance, a reminder that he would be able to stop lying to his girlfriend once she was a vampire, was actually taken a very different way. It had reminded Allen that he was lying to Lenalee about who he was, and that thought did not settle well with him. He hated the fact that he was lying to the girl he loved, but more importantly, knowing that he was lying about who he was brought his insecurities to the surface.

Allen ignored Alma as the purple haired vampire attempted to clean up his spilled beer; he hadn't even noticed that he'd smashed the bottle. In fact, he was so lost in his inner turmoil that he wasn't even aware that he had begun voicing his fears. "What if she doesn't like me anymore? What if it's my Noah persona that she loves and- OW!"

Allen glared up at Alma from where he was now sprawled on the floor, rubbing the shoulder the purple haired vampire had punched. The glare faded to a look of apprehension when he caught the anger on Alma's face. "Allen, stop being stupid. That girl loves you. We all know it, and we all know you know it, so you don't get to use that as an argument. Besides, even if she did like your undercover personality better," he paused to shoot a withering glare at Allen, who was about to interrupt, "which she _**doesn't**_ , but even if she did, she's smart enough and open minded enough to give you the benefit of the doubt."

Allen picked himself up off the floor and threw himself dejectedly back into his chair. "I knew trying to talk to you about this was a bad idea."

"Can I ask a question, Allen?" Taking the white haired vampire's annoyed shrug as permission, Krory continued. "You said earlier that you're ready to have sex with her. That must mean that you've said 'I love you' to each other."

Krory laughed at the dirty look Allen shot at him. "We've been trying to convince you to lose your virginity for five years. Based on everything else you've said tonight, you've apparently been waiting for the right woman. That being said, have you and Miss Lenalee talked about your future together?"

Allen frowned suspiciously at his friend. "She knows that I can't get her pregnant and that if I don't turn her someday, our relationship has an expiration date."

The other two shared a knowing look. They smirked in unison at the younger vampire, finally understanding what was really going on inside his head. "This is just you not liking being told what to do, isn't it?"

The glare Allen gave in response to the question told them that they'd hit the nail on the head.

.x.x.

Allen admittedly felt better after talking with the older vampires, but he had one plan left for getting out of this thing, and he wasn't going to give in until he tried it. Even if he hated talking to his handler and going through official channels.

He just knew that Kanda was going to be a pain in the ass about the whole thing.

-{{ (Can we meet?) }}- Allen stared at the typed up text on his phone for a good five minutes before finally working up the courage to hit send.

The response was immediate, which wasn't surprising, as Kanda was under orders to always answer Allen's calls, but the content of the message certainly was. -{{ (No.) }}-

Before he could ask why, a second text popped up. -{{ (Alma beat you to it.) }}-

 _Dammit._ Allen was practically kicking himself. He apparently should have gone to Kanda right off the bat. -{{ (But this is serious!) }}-

-{{ (No, it's not. Stop being a wimp and propose to your girlfriend.) }}-

-{{ (But you're my handler! Don't you have to talk to me before you can make those kinds of decisions?) }}-

-{{ (Nope.) }}-

Allen punched the wall, imagining that he was wiping the smug smirk off a certain Japanese man's face. It didn't help.


	26. Rings

Since absolutely everyone I knew thought that it was best, I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to propose to my girlfriend. And since Lenalee had said that she wanted a ring, and Cross was rather adamant that I get her one, I found myself at a jewelry store; if I was going to do this, I was going to do it right.

Besides, I had a couple hours to kill before she would be awake, and I did not like not having anything to do.

It was overwhelming at first, looking at the store's plethora of wedding and engagement rings. Despite the fact that I was supposed to be observant, I had absolutely no clue what Lenalee's taste in jewelry was. And I suddenly understood why Cross had been so specific about getting one with a real diamond; those things were _expensive,_ and the thought of spending that much money on something as simple as a ring definitely clashed with my frugal spirit.

The jeweler laughed at how clearly lost I was, but she ended up being a great help - once I explained to her that I wasn't actually eighteen. I felt bad about it, as I ended up not liking any of her selection, none of them felt like anything Lenalee would like, but I was armed with a lot more knowledge of how rings worked, and that would help a lot later on.

I didn't really expect to find anything that morning; I was just looking and getting ideas, and hoping that I wouldn't have to go through with this. But when I saw _that_ ring at the third store, I knew it was the right one. It reminded me of a necklace I'd seen Lenalee wear, a necklace that had looked absolutely gorgeous on her.

I worried briefly about getting Lenalee an engagement ring that was reminiscent of a keepsake from her mother, as I was a vampire and the woman had been killed by a vampire, but I decided that I thought that it was rather poetic. Besides, if it was an issue for Lenalee, then I could always return the ring and drag her out with me to get a new one.

I paid for the ring, and as I slipped the box into my jacket pocket, I suddenly wondered why I had been so against doing this. Proposing to Lenalee actually made perfect sense. I really did want to spend the rest of my life with that girl.

When my phone rang right after I walked out of the store, I answered it without looking at the caller ID, expecting it to be Lenalee. "Hello?"

It was definitely not my girlfriend; the male voice on the other end was laughing hysterically. I glared at my phone as I checked the screen to confirm that the caller was indeed who I thought it was. When I put the phone back to my ear, the other vampire was still laughing, and that definitely pissed me off a little. "What do you want, Tyki?"

As he continued to laugh, I suddenly realized that he was laughing _at_ me. I had bought the ring using an account that the Noah monitored. A purchase that big would have flagged with Sherril immediately, and he had obviously already told everyone. I was kicking myself internally for being careless, and I was definitely harsher with Tyki than I normally would have been because of it. "Yes, I bought a ring. Now shut up and leave me alone. It's my day off."

The laughter died, and he started to protest, but I was already hanging up the phone.

As I expected, my phone beeped with a text message almost immediately. But as I scowled at the screen, I noticed that the sender was someone much friendlier than Tyki. And given that just the sight of her name on my phone made my heart race like that, I really did need to propose to that girl. -{{ Good morning. Are you feeling better? }}-

-{{ I am. Got any exciting plans for your day off? }}-

-{{ Just homework. I've fallen a bit behind lately. Too many distractions. }}-

I laughed at her text, not getting that she was calling me a distraction. -{{ Want me to come over and help you study? }}-

Her response was much more immediate than her previous texts. -{{ Only if you're actually going to help. }}-

I was still blinking at the words on the screen, wondering what she meant by that, when another text popped up. -{{ Sorry. That was harsh. }}-

-{{ I'd love the help, but I really do need to get this done. If you're going to come over, I need you to promise that studying is all we'll do. }}-

I still didn't understand what she was talking about, but I agreed to her demands without any hesitation. -{{ I promise. }}-

.x.x.

From the moment he arrived at my apartment, it was obvious that Allen wasn't lying when he said he was feeling better; he was relaxed and his smile reached his eyes. After he kissed me good morning, he wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close to him. "Sorry about last night."

I laughed nervously at his apology. "We don't have to talk about this if you don't want to."

He just laughed and shook his head at the suggestion. I was disappointed; after the crappy way I'd slept, I was definitely ready to drop that subject. But Allen didn't say anything remotely like what I was expecting him to say. "I thought about it, and you're right. Getting engaged is what we have to do." While I gaped at him in shock, he kissed my forehead and led me into the living room. "Now, let's see to that homework of yours."

We spent the next six hours sitting around the coffee table as he helped me with my homework. We laughed and joked, but the topic never strayed from whatever assignment I was working on, and I actually got quite a bit done. Our only break was when I stopped to make myself a sandwich for lunch. Allen never once tried to make us do something else, and there was no distracting touching or kissing.

At first, I thought it was because I had made him promise not to, but then I realized that that had nothing to do with it. He was here to help me and he wasn't going to stop until I didn't need his help anymore. It was slightly embarrassing that I had thought that he was going to turn the study session into something else. I really should have known that Allen wouldn't have intentionally distracted me from my homework.

Finished with the assignment I was working on, I closed the textbook and pushed it away from me. "I think that's good enough for today. Shall we go to dinner?"

Allen didn't respond, and I looked up to find him staring at his phone, texting. It was something I'd grown used to, he was frequently on his phone because of his job, but there wasn't supposed to be anything Noah related going on today, so it was frustrating that he was distracted by his phone.

Taking advantage of his distraction, I moved closer and took his phone from him. He protested and took it back, but not before I saw the last text he sent. I had planned to tease him about texting while he was supposed to be paying attention to me, but what I saw on his phone was really out of character. The last text Allen sent contained the middle finger emoji. "Who did you flip off?"

Allen was clearly still distracted, as his answer was far too honest and he didn't seem to care that I'd looked at his phone. His frustration over the texts was obvious. "Tyki. He's giving me crap about the ring I bought."

I could only stare blankly at him in reaction to those words. The texting was immediately forgotten. I could only focus on Allen's last four words. And I didn't have to ask to know that 'ring' actually meant 'engagement ring'. On top of that, he'd said 'bought'. Past tense. He'd already done it. Allen had already purchased an engagement ring for me. That whole thing had happened less than twenty four hours ago, and he had already bought a ring.

When I finally collected myself, Allen was giving me a weird look, concerned and waiting for me to tell him what was wrong. It took a moment for me to find my voice. "You bought a ring?"

I expected him to react like he had meant to keep it a secret, but instead he just seemed confused. "You said you wanted one."

That was true; we may have been coerced into an engagement, but that didn't mean I couldn't have a proper proposal, and I definitely wanted a ring. But even then, it was disconcerting that Allen had already bought one. "I didn't mean for you to immediately go out and buy one."

Allen merely shrugged in response. "I know. I just happened to find a good one the first time I went looking."

"But isn't that too fast?" I asked partially because I was freaked out and partially because it was weird that Allen was completely over his reservations from last night. "You didn't have to buy it. You could have just remembered where it was and gone back for it later."

He just shrugged again. "The sooner we do this, the sooner they'll get off my back about the whole thing. They may not have told me what my deadline was, but that doesn't mean they didn't give me one."

I didn't have an argument for that, so I changed the subject. "Can I see the ring?"

"No." His quick response hurt, but he just laughed it off and pulled me into a sideways hug. "It's bad enough that you already know that I'm going to propose. I want you to be at least a _little_ surprised when I do it."

"I guess that makes sense." I was definitely disappointed that my curiosity wouldn't be satisfied, but I had to admit that Allen did have a point. As I tried to think of something to say that would convince him to change his mind, I suddenly recalled how we had gotten onto this subject. "Wait. How does Tyki know you bought a ring?"

Allen snorted. "I was careless and used one of the accounts they monitor. Sherril saw it and told the others. Tyki's trying to talk me out of proposing because he doesn't want to lose another bet with his brother over me."

I was curious what he meant by that, but I really didn't want to be talking about the Noah right now. " _So_ , dinner. I've been cooped up inside all day, shall we go out somewhere?"

He laughed as he stood and pulled me to my feet. "Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere that's not Italian."

.x.x.

After dinner that night, we unsurprisingly ended up out at the bar with Allen's friends. Though I suppose, after everything that had happened lately, they were my friends too, and I probably should refer to them that way. It was also unsurprising that Allen had not proposed to me during dinner; he clearly wanted to put at least a little romance into it, and he was therefore not going to propose on the same day I learned about the ring.

And even more expected than both of those things combined was the fact that our friends all knew that he had been ordered to marry me. Those boys - Alma in particular - had no boundaries, and they all knew absolutely every detail about Allen's life. And I suppose, by that logic, it also made perfect sense that they knew that Allen and I had almost slept together just two nights earlier.

What was not expected was that Alma would pull me aside to talk about it.

While Allen was distracted by an argument with Kanda, the purple haired vampire grabbed me by my elbow and led me to a quiet corner of the bar. He sat down next to me on the bench, a little too close for comfort, and stared at me. I tried to slide over and put some space between us, he was really creeping me out, but my back hit the wall, signaling that there was nowhere to go. "What's going on, Alma?"

When he finally spoke, he seemed to struggle with his words. "There's something you should know. About having sex with Allen. He might be different afterwards."

His words put me even more on edge than I already was, my mind going wild wondering what that could possibly mean. Alma just laughed and pet my hair; the strange moment of seriousness in his behavior was gone. "Don't worry, it's nothing major. There just might be some slight changes to his personality."

"How is that _not_ something to worry about?" I shoved his hand off my head. "And how would sleeping with me change his personality? Allen is definitely not one of those guys who turn abusive once they're in a relationship."

Alma laughed, probably at the ridiculous mental image of Allen being abusive, and the words he spoke next both calmed me down and made me more nervous. "Because he's a vampire."

"Oh." Once again, I was thinking of Allen as if he was human. I really needed to stop doing that.

"When a vampire has sex for the first time after their turning, their powers settle in and they become more in tune with their vampire nature. It's usually a subtle change, almost unnoticeable. But for vampires like Allen, who were virgins when they were turned, that change is a lot bigger." He paused his explanation to smirk at me. "You didn't really think we've been teasing Allen about being a virgin simply for fun, did you?"

The question made me blush, and that made Alma laugh. Having had enough of him talking without really saying anything concrete, I shoved him away from me. "Get to the point, Alma."

The purple haired vampire frowned. "But that's no fun."

When I did nothing but stare levelly at him, he hurried to fill the silence. "Ok, fine, have it your way. The point is that even though Allen's already more in touch with his powers than most vampires could ever hope to be, he's going to be stronger once you two have sex. And that's going to mess with his personality. There's no telling how drastic the change will be - knowing him, it'll probably be negligible - but you still need to be prepared."

 _That was the_ _ **short**_ _version?_ But I think I finally understood what Alma was trying to tell me. "So basically what you're saying is that Allen is going to start acting more like a vampire."

His eyebrows knitted in thought. "I hadn't thought of it that way, but yes."

"And what was the point of telling me this? It obviously wasn't because you're concerned about me."

"Of course it was! How can you say that?" He pouted playfully at me, but it quickly turned into a serious stare. "If you're prepared for what's coming, then maybe it won't freak you out and scare you off. Allen needs you in his life."

And with those words, Alma got up and walked away. I sat there for a moment, processing everything I'd just heard, but then I too returned to our table. It really wasn't worth worrying about. If having sex with Allen was going to make him act more like a vampire, then that was all the more reason to do it. At the very least, it would put an end to my problem of forgetting that he's not human.


	27. The Proposal

A/N: You guys ready for this?

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

The week of the Thanksgiving break passed very well for Lenalee. Without classes to go to and with work only being waitressing, and not anything Noah related, the only potential stressor in her life was wondering when Allen would propose. They had been on a couple more dates, and so far, he had yet to pop the question. But she knew that whenever he chose to do it, it would be romantic, so she decided to not let it bother her. Instead, she chose to be proactive with her stress-free time. Instead of just getting caught up with her homework, she worked ahead as much as she possibly could, even finishing the final paper for her research class three weeks early. And she did it all because she knew that once she and Allen were engaged, she was going to have even less attention for her schoolwork than she'd had in the last month.

Having no family in town with which to spend the holidays, Lenalee worked extra shifts at the restaurant on Thanksgiving Thursday and Black Friday. She'd been invited to celebrate with Allen and the rest of the group - supposedly Kanda's father cooked a mean turkey - but by that point, she had already volunteered for the extra shifts and she didn't want to cause trouble by backing out of them.

But that was just fine with Allen. He hadn't invited her, Alma had, and with everyone gathering at Teidoll's house, he just knew that someone - most likely the loud-mouthed Daisya - was going to let something slip in front of Lenalee and ruin everything. Knowing that she wasn't going to come took a huge load of stress off his shoulders.

As expected, Thanksgiving dinner at Teidoll's house with all three of his adopted sons, Marie's girlfriend, Lavi and his grandfather, Cross and Anita, and three other vampires was a fiasco. It was loud and chaotic, but everyone had a great time. Except Kanda. The Japanese man had had to resort to locking himself in his childhood bedroom after dinner in order to escape from a drunken Teidoll's affections.

Allen spent Friday night at family dinner with the Noah. That was even more of a fiasco than dinner at Teidoll's was. Especially given that there wasn't any food. Just a whole lot of alcohol and a group of scantily clad women who had been paid to be blood donors. It definitely wasn't Allen's scene, but for once, the others were too distracted to nitpick his life choices, so he was able to just relax and watch the others act stupid.

Those two holidays marked the longest period of time that Allen and Lenalee had gone without seeing each other. Ever since he had first showed up at Bella Ragazza back in September, they had never gone more than a day without at least passing each other in the restaurant. And not seeing each other for almost three days was a strange experience for both of them.

For Allen, it was further proof that he actually wanted to marry Lenalee. Not being able to even say something as simple as 'hello' to her in person had been awful. For Lenalee, the experience had been a little different. Not seeing Allen at the restaurant while she was working felt more like a breakup than like he was on vacation. It was lonely and depressing, and she had had to constantly remind herself that she would be seeing him on Saturday.

When Allen picked Lenalee up at her apartment Saturday night, they nearly cancelled their date in favor of making out in the entryway. But that was just them joking around with each other. Dinner out meant that his cell phone was put away and her unfinished homework wasn't around to distract her. And after the last few days apart, they both wanted the other's undivided attention. So however good kissing may have been, they put it aside in favor of being on time for their reservation.

Everyone's eyes were on the young couple as the maître d' sat them at their table. And it wasn't because of Allen's scar and hair color, though that certainly was eye catching. The two young people were both dressed appropriately for the restaurant's ambiance, and even though their physical ages were a good twenty years younger than the rest of the dinner crowd, that was not why they had everyone's attention. The table at which they were seated was on permanent reserve for an elusive billionaire vampire that the regulars knew simply as "The Earl". Everyone knew that he was a dangerous man whose money came from underworld dealings, and he was not to be messed with.

And now there were two barely legal kids sitting at his table. The respect the maître d' showed to the white haired male indicated that he was the one connected to the Earl, which also meant that that harmless looking kid was a vampire, a fact that was proved further when the boy ordered a glass of the house red for himself. He also ordered a glass of white wine for the beautiful girl he was with, telling the nosy patrons that she was human and that he was trying to impress her with his money and connections.

Allen was well aware of the stares, and he also knew that they were being watched because of his connection to the Earl. He'd chosen this restaurant for that specific reason. Tonight was the night, and he was going to do it at a place where the Noah had spies; he wanted them to have proof and not just his word on the matter.

Oblivious to what was happening around them, Lenalee frowned at Allen. He knew what her frown meant, but he chose to ignore it; he knew exactly what he had done to upset her, and he wasn't going to apologize for it. Allen ordered wine for Lenalee everywhere they went, and while that was sweet and gentlemanly, she also found it a little annoying. She was a college student and was used to being frugal, but the wines he ordered for her were always at least twice as expensive as the ones she picked for herself. She had complained about it many times before, but Allen always won those arguments by pointing out that he wasn't going to let her drink cheap wine on their dates.

When their wine arrived - which was almost immediately, as sitting at the Earl's table guaranteed them top of the line service - she finally broke her silence. She smiled and gestured towards his glass of deep red wine. "I didn't see yours on the menu. Can I try it?"

He smiled gently at her and slid the glass away from her. "You wouldn't like it. It's laced with blood."

She frowned at him in disbelief. "Really? You can just order blood like that?"

"Well, it's more wine than blood, but yeah." He shrugged and casually took a sip from his glass. "It's something places like this do to cater to vampires."

She continued to regard him with suspicion. "Then why have you never done it before?"

"I have, but you never asked about it, and I didn't want to freak you out by telling you that I was drinking blood. You've always been a little squeamish about that and it didn't seem like something you'd be able to handle." He smiled gently at the scowl she gave him. "I know you want honesty from me, but you can't really think that you're better off now that you know that I sometimes drink blood during our dates."

Her frown deepened with his words. "Ugh. You're right. I did like it better back when I thought you were just drinking wine." After a quick sip of her own wine, she found the courage to ask the question that was nagging at her. "Out of curiosity... The times you've ordered blood in the past, are those the same times that you've told the waiter that you're a vampire instead of arguing over your age?"

"Pretty much."

Their conversation drifted to the usual things after that; she talked about work, he told her about Thanksgiving at Teidoll's. They laughed and joked through their meal and it made the others around them rather uneasy. The pair were clearly just two kids having fun, abusing a connection to get a higher class meal than they were used to, and there was going to be hell to pay when word of their adventure reached the Earl; they could only hope that the man wouldn't show up and make a scene, which he had a history of doing.

The pair made it to dessert without incident, and when the white haired vampire suddenly knelt next to the Chinese girl and pulled out a ring, the people watching them realized they'd made a mistake; the boy actually did have the Earl's permission to be there. The man was a hopeless romantic and would have been more than willing to loan out his table for a proposal.

Even though she knew the proposal was coming, Lenalee still froze in shock when Allen got down on one knee. She let him slide a ring onto her finger and managed to smile nervously back at him as he held her hands in his. She expected him to say something cheesy or romantic, but instead he jumped straight to the question. "Will you marry me, Lenalee?"

Allen knew what her answer was going to be, but waiting for her to say it was painful. The few seconds it took for her to respond felt like an eternity, and he agonized the whole time over what would happen if she changed her mind and said no.

Hearing him say those four words had made Lenalee realize that she actually wanted this, and it took a little too much effort to keep that realization from ruining things. The last thing she wanted was to scare Allen off by reacting the wrong way; after all, she didn't know that his mind had changed and that he was proposing because he wanted to. Lenalee's smile brightened and she forced herself to put just the right amount of excitement into her response. "Of course!"

The entire restaurant applauded as they kissed, causing Lenalee to blush bright red and hiss at Allen to sit back in his chair. She sipped slowly at the last of her wine while she waited for the restaurant noise to return and her embarrassment to fade. When she was satisfied that she was no longer the center of attention, she turned her focus to the ring on her finger.

The first thing that caught her eye was the bright amethyst in the center of the ring. It was cut to just the right size, big enough to be easily seen without being gaudy or tasteless. The round purple stone was flanked on either side by a beautifully carved silver butterfly, each with several small diamonds set in its wings. The whole thing was set on a double band, both of which were embellished with four more small diamonds before turning plain as it wrapped underneath her finger.

It was beautiful, but there was one major problem with it. She questioned Allen without tearing her gaze from the ring. "It's silver?"

He smiled at her, understanding the worry behind her confusion. "White gold."

Lenalee nodded, trying not to feel embarrassed over the stupidity of the question; it was rather obvious that a vampire wouldn't have given her a ring made out of a substance that was poisonous to him. She spun the ring on her finger a few more times as she studied it. "And the stones? They're imitations, right?"

"No. They're real." Allen smiled when she looked sharply up at him. "It's an engagement ring, Lena. I wasn't going to buy you one with fake stones."

"But it must have cost-!"

His smile turned into a dark smirk. "Do you really want to know how much the Noah pay me?"

She made a face at him. "It's apparently enough that dropping several thousand dollars on a single piece of jewelry means nothing to you."

"Only when it's for you." His smirk turned playful, and he laughed at the pink blush that dusted his fiancée's cheeks.

The smirk morphed into a grin at the thought that the beautiful woman across from him was now his fiancée. He may have known for a week now that that was coming, but having it actually happen was exhilarating, and he couldn't keep the joy off his face.

She joined in his laughter and they went back to their dessert. The atmosphere around them remained light and cheery, and when their meal ended, the maître d' returned and escorted them from the restaurant. He bowed deeply to Allen before they left. "Congratulations on your engagement, and thank you for your patronage, Mr. Walker. Please come again."

.x.x.

After we left the restaurant, we ambled down the street, checking out the stores that already had their Christmas displays up. We were both high on the emotions that came from our engagement, and the whole thing just felt magical. I particularly loved the way that ring pressed into my finger when Allen held my hand.

We reached his car just before I got too cold, and Allen laughed at me as I rubbed my hands in front of the vent and begged the car to heat up faster. I knew from previous incidents that if I poked back at him, he'd start teasing me out loud, calling me fragile, so I settled for sticking my tongue out at him.

He responded by pulling me in for a kiss. Our tongues entwined as we leaned in closer to each other, my arms wrapping around his shoulders as his hands firmly gripped my hips. We made out like that, sitting awkwardly in the front seat with our seatbelts on. We didn't stop until the windows had fogged up and a man passing by banged on the hood and yelled for us to get a room.

I smiled as I pulled away from him. "Thanks. I'm warm now."

Allen laughed in response as he adjusted the air controls to clear the windows. He didn't say anything more, even as he shifted the car into gear and pulled out into traffic, so I took it upon myself to break the ice. "So, where are we headed next?"

"It's a surprise."

The answer made me roll my eyes. "Aren't you over that yet? It'll still be romantic if you tell me where we're going."

He just smirked at me and turned his attention back to the road. I prodded a bit more, but he evaded every single one of my questions, and I eventually grew bored and turned my focus on the road.

We were driving the opposite direction of my apartment, which was conveniently located near Bella Ragazza in the university district, so I knew he wasn't taking me home. But beyond that, our destination was hard to guess. We left the trendy shopping district where we'd eaten behind, and I lost track of where we were in the dark with the lights flashing around outside.


	28. Back at Allen's

A/N: So, I think you guys have been waiting for this for a while now...

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It wasn't until the car slowed and Allen pulled into a brightly lit underground parking garage that I realized we'd reached our destination, and by then it was too late to pay attention to our surroundings. Allen laughed as he parked the car and turned the engine off. "We're here."

"I gathered that." I deadpanned at him. "Are you going to tell me where 'here' is?"

He smirked cheekily at me in response. "Nope."

I rolled my eyes and got out of the car. I may have been annoyed at his behavior, but I trusted Allen to not have brought me someplace dangerous. After locking the car, Allen wrapped an arm around my waist and led me towards the elevator.

The inside of the elevator was a sharp contrast to the raw concrete and fluorescent lighting of the garage. Clean, mirrored walls, plush carpeting; it was all very fancy, but the thing that was really out of place was the keypad: every floor choice required an access key. It was a little off-putting to me, but Allen nonchalantly fished a key out of his pocket and unlocked the button for the fourteenth floor, all without letting go of me. The doors slid closed and the elevator began its ascent, but before I could even think to question Allen again, we'd reached our floor.

The hallway we stepped into was just as nice as the elevator. There were only two numbered doors in the hall, and a third door marked 'stairs', but that was enough to tell me where we were. It may have looked more like a nice hotel, but if I was right, the door Allen was unlocking belonged to his apartment.

When the door was unlocked, Allen opened it and gestured for me to go inside first. "After you."

I was right about it being an apartment, but it didn't really feel like Allen's. It was too empty and white to be his; I pictured him in something much warmer and full of life. There was barely any furniture, and even though what was there was infinitely nicer than what I had back at my place, this place didn't feel like anyone's home. A few pairs of shoes by the door and some jackets on hooks were the only signs that someone lived there.

And the only personal touch was a single framed photograph on the table in the entryway. It depicted a young boy, about nine years old, laughing and smiling as he sat on the shoulders of a tall, nicely dressed man. The boy was easily recognizable as Allen, which obviously meant that the man in the picture was Mana. The photo confirmed that this was indeed Allen's apartment.

Allen laughed as he closed and locked the door behind us, very clearly ignoring the fact that I was looking at that photo. "You can use any hook for your coat and purse, and please take off your shoes. I don't want any dirt tracked onto the carpet."

He was in the middle of taking off his boots when he finally noticed that my silence wasn't simply from shock. It was taking everything I had to keep my teeth from chattering; it was almost as cold in here as it was outside. But Allen quickly recognized what was wrong, dashed over to the thermostat on the wall, and turned it up. "Sorry. It's been a while since I had any humans over."

The click and subsequent whirring of the fan turning on warmed me up immediately, even though it was probably going to take some time for the apartment to actually heat up. As soon as I got my tongue working, I pounced on his last statement. "'A while'?"

He made a face at me. "Ok, fine. I've never had any humans over. Not even Lavi's been here. I think the last human in this place was me."

There was a lot of information in that simple sentence. "You-?"

"I was turned in the back bedroom." Allen smiled sheepishly and then answered the real question that was nagging at me. "This was Uncle Neah's place. I inherited it when he died, and I've been living here ever since."

"And why couldn't you just tell me that we were going back to your place?" I scowled at him as I slipped off my heels and set my purse down; it was still too cold to lose the jacket. "Was it really worth the surprise?"

"Maybe not, but it was fun watching you try to figure out where we were going." He smiled and kissed my forehead. "Would you like a tour?"

The question was rhetorical, as he immediately led me out of the lounge-slash-entryway and into a hallway. He quickly showed me the other rooms, which included a kitchen at least three times the size of mine and a second living room that actually looked lived in. The tour came to an end when we reached Allen's bedroom, and by that point, the heater had warmed the place up enough for me to take off my coat.

This was by far the most Allen-like room in the apartment. The bookshelf was stacked full of books I recognized, and the desk in the corner was littered with papers. But there was one piece of furniture that caught my eye, confusing me greatly. "You have a bed?"

"Why wouldn't I?" He shrugged off the question, clearly not getting why the fact that he had a bed was bothering me.

"But you're a vampire. Aren't you supposed to sleep in a coffin or something?"

Allen smirked at me with his fangs showing. "I haven't showed you everything. Maybe the coffin's in another room."

I don't know what expression was on my face, but whatever it was, it made Allen laugh. "I'm joking, of course."

He moved to sit on the edge of the bed, pulling me along with him. He took my left hand in his as I sat beside him, fiddling with my engagement ring as he explained. "There are vampires who sleep in coffins. Sometimes it's because they actually like to sleep that way, but usually it's because they like the theatrics of it. They like to play the part of the mysterious vampire for the humans they take home."

I laughed at the annoyed face he made. "You're talking about Alma, aren't you?"

He joined in with my laughter for a moment, but then he got serious again. "Yes, Alma's one of them. But overall, most vampires sleep in beds. We don't sleep much at all compared to you humans, but beds are comfortable, and they're useful for ... other things."

From the way he stiffened, 'other things' very obviously meant sex. I wasn't sure how to respond to that, and apparently, he didn't either, so the conversation dropped and silence fell between us.

I wasn't stupid. I was in Allen's bedroom, sitting on his bed, and wearing his ring on my finger. I knew why he'd brought me here and what was coming next. And I was ready for it. Certainly readier than I'd been for getting engaged.

There was no reason to put this off any longer, so I decided to make the first move. I leaned closer and kissed him.

Allen immediately loosened up at the contact. The nervousness that had been brought on by the mention of sex disappeared, and he deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer to him.

I broke the kiss when I needed air. Allen smiled brightly as he kissed my forehead. Then he did something surprising: he pulled out his cell phone and turned it off before tossing it on the desk. It was a simple action, but it meant a lot to me. We were not going to get interrupted tonight.

.x.x.

With his phone put away, Allen returned to the bed. He knelt in front of Lenalee and gave her a quick kiss before he began unbuttoning her top. Once her neck was exposed, he latched onto her collarbone, leaving behind a hickey that would last for days. His focus stayed on unbuttoning her blouse though; if he gave the hickey too much attention, he'd end up biting her, and he wasn't sure she was ready for that.

Lenalee fumbled with the buttons of Allen's dress shirt, having difficulty concentrating while he was attacking her neck. His shirt was only halfway open when she felt him start to tug her top off her shoulders, but when she let go of him to remove her blouse, he was quick to pull off his own shirt as well.

They smiled nervously at each other for a moment before he returned to marking her neck. His hands quickly found her bra clasp and unfastened it, and while she pulled off the garment and tossed it aside, Allen picked her up and pulled her onto the bed with him.

Prepared for the temperature difference this time, Lenalee was able to muffle the automatic reaction that came when Allen's bare chest came in contact with hers. It still felt cold, but it wasn't so shocking now that she was expecting it to be cold.

Now kneeling on top of her as she lay on her back, Allen's mouth moved south, nipping and sucking at Lenalee's beautiful skin, all while keeping his strength in check so that he wouldn't draw blood. He stopped when he reached her nipple, taking the pink nub into his mouth and sucking on it until her already loud moans doubled in volume.

While Allen played with her breasts, Lenalee's hands found their way into his hair. Her slim fingers tangled in the soft white strands, gently scraping her nails across his scalp and making his breathing hitch. And when she'd gotten her fill of messing with his hair, she began trailing her fingers down his back. She didn't stop until she reached the waistband of his pants, but she had even more trouble with this button than she'd had with the buttons of his shirt. What he was doing to her body felt so good that it was hard to concentrate on anything other than the pleasure he was giving her.

Allen smiled as he felt Lenalee fumble with the button on his pants. She clearly wanted him to take them off, and that was the ultimate sign that she liked what he was doing to her and wanted more. It eased the self-conscious feeling that came from this being his first time, allowing him to relax and stop worrying.

He released her breasts - with great reluctance as, as far as he was concerned, Lenalee's breasts were the most perfect breasts in the entire world - and let his mouth continue its journey southward. He stopped to tease her belly button, making her back arch off the mattress as she moaned out her pleasure. Taking advantage of the reaction, his hands slipped behind her back, quickly finding the zipper of her skirt and pulling it down.

Allen eased the skirt off her hips, exposing a pair of silken underwear that were visibly soaked with her arousal. He pulled away from her completely as he slid the skirt down her long legs and off her body. She lay there, panting for breath and wearing only her wet panties, but before she could verbalize a complaint, Allen's pants were on the ground.

The pair of boxers he was wearing did little to hide the bulge between his legs, and they quickly vanished as well, exposing his erection in all its glory. Lenalee could do nothing but stare at it as he once again joined her on the bed; simply seeing his dick had her stunned beyond words.

Allen knelt between her spread legs, giving her a quick kiss before trailing his tongue down to her waist. In his hurry to remove her underwear, he ended up ripping the fabric right off her body. But Allen was too focused on her exposed pussy to care about that at the time. The patch of green hair between her legs glistened with the wetness of their previous activities, and Allen ran his tongue along her slit, savoring the taste of her juices in his mouth.

The unexpected pleasure of the touch made Lenalee gasp, but before she could collect herself, Allen was doing it again. He delved his tongue into her slit, licking the walls of her passage and making her scream with pleasure. The movement of his mouth against her most sensitive parts filled her body with an intense heat she'd never felt before, and it wasn't long at all before she came.

Hearing her heart rate spike and feeling her body shudder beneath him, Allen picked up his pace, milking her orgasm as far as it would go. It hadn't been his intention to make her come from his oral ministrations alone, but there was no longer a chance of him not making her come at all, so he wasn't going to complain.

And then, taking advantage of the distraction that lingered as she came down from the high of her orgasm, he plunged his length into her.

Lenalee whimpered in surprise as her virgin vagina stretched to accommodate the intruder. Allen's dick was a good deal larger than anything else that had been inside it prior to that point, and it definitely hurt having it shoved inside her without warning like that, but she was still nice and relaxed from her orgasm, so the pain was little more than an annoyance.

Learning forward, Allen captured her lips in a fierce kiss. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and rolled them over so that she was now lying on top of him and he wouldn't have to worry about crushing her underneath him. Lenalee's hands tangled into his hair, and, much to his surprise, her next move was to pull her hips away from his, sliding herself off his shaft. She stopped just before his tip left her, and then she immediately slammed back down, encasing him inside her once again.

They both moaned in pleasure at the feeling, but before she could repeat the action, Allen's hands were on her hips, holding her firmly in place. She stilled under the touch, allowing him to pull her back into a kiss. "If you keep that up, I'm going to lose control, and I don't think either of us want that."

She smiled sweetly at him, but before she could say the apology she was thinking, his lips were once again on hers and his tongue was in her mouth. As the kiss deepened, he began bucking his hips against hers, loving the way the action made her beautiful breasts rub against his chest. His thrusts started out slow and shallow, barely moving his length inside her, but he continued to pick up speed, thrusting harder and faster until she was crying out with every thrust. She came twice more as he continued to thrust into her, frequently changing angles and making the experience more pleasurable for both of them.

Allen knew he was close: the urge to bite her had grown incredibly strong. He tried to fight it off, but it became more overwhelming the closer he got, and at the very end, he lost control, biting down on Lenalee's shoulder as he released inside her.

A sharp stab of pain accompanied the warm feeling of Allen's semen filling her, and Lenalee knew without really being aware of it that he had just bitten her. The feeling that followed the pain, however, was a spike of intense pleasure as his venom worked its way into her body. It pushed her over the edge, causing her to experience her fourth orgasm of the night before finally reaching her limit and passing out.


	29. Biting

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

To jy24: Your comment about Komui working his ass off makes me laugh. We all know he's a professional slacker. ;)

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I returned to my senses as I felt Lenalee collapse on top of me. Seeing that precious red liquid spilling from her neck, I swiftly sealed the bite on her shoulder before she lost any more blood. I felt bad about doing that to her, but it was in the past now, and I could only apologize later and hope she wouldn't be too mad at me for it.

There was not time to deal with that at the moment however. The scent of her blood in the room and the taste of it lingering in my mouth, combined with the very physical activity we had just finished, were all making me feel thirsty. I needed blood. And for the first time since I'd known her, I actually wanted to bite Lenalee.

Acting quickly, I wrapped Lenalee's sleeping form in a blanket so she wouldn't get cold, pulled on my pants, and headed to the kitchen, where I kept a small supply of blood in the fridge. Packaged blood wasn't as good as fresh, there were too many preservatives in it for my taste, but it was nice to have around in a pinch, which was exactly what this was. I wasn't going to bite Lenalee, and I definitely wasn't going to leave while she was passed out after sex, so this would have to do. I knew that mixing wine into the blood would cover up that bitter taste, but the alcohol would also make the blood's effects less potent, and that was the last thing I needed right now.

I poured myself a glass and headed back to the bedroom. The blood sated my thirst, but the desire to bite Lenalee remained, and that was weird. I sat down in my desk chair to keep some distance between us and just watched her sleep for a while. She was gorgeous and she was officially mine. I couldn't wait for the day when I turned her and made her my wife.

I eventually grew bored though. I loved watching Lenalee, but I was still too young a vampire to have grown out of my human need to keep myself busy. So I grabbed my cell phone off the desk and turned it back on.

As I expected, there were several missed calls and texts. The senders were all expected as well. Most were from the Noah; Tyki went from asking for my help to demanding to know why I wasn't answering my phone. The rest were from Alma, and he, rather predictably, wanted all the sordid details of my evening.

Alma's texts were easy to respond to. A quick "mind your own business" gave him all the information that I was willing to give him. Unsurprisingly, that answer wasn't acceptable to him and he immediately responded, demanding more information. -{{ At least tell me whether or not you actually slept with her. I'm tired of worrying about you over this. }}-

I rolled my eyes, but responded to the message; it was surprisingly reasonable for the other vampire. -{{ Yes, we had sex. Now leave me alone. }}-

-{{ Only for tonight. All bets are off after that. }}- I sighed heavily at the response, debating whether or not I should try to make him stop pestering me, and how I would even go about doing that. But in the end, I decided to let it go; Alma was actually agreeing, of his own will, to drop the subject for the next few hours, so I could leave it for now and deal with him later.

I turned my attention to the messages from Tyki after that. I was definitely pissed that I'd been right to turn off my phone; it was infuriating knowing that if I hadn't, we would have been interrupted, and I wouldn't have just had what was inarguably the best evening of my entire life. And that manifested in a need to actually tell Tyki off. I could usually restrain my anger out of deference for the fact that he was in the inner circle, but not tonight. -{{ Of course I turned my phone off. I've told you guys countless times before to not bother me while I'm out with Lenalee, and I'm sick and tired of you doing it anyway. You have been cockblocking me all week, and I could NOT put up with that for a single second more. }}-

Tyki's reply didn't come as immediately as Alma's had, but it still came rather quickly. -{{ There's no need to be mean, Shounen. }}-

As I was typing out my response, planning to argue that my meanness was completely justified, another text popped up. -{{ Wait. }}-

I stopped typing out of curiosity, and I didn't have to wait long for his next text to pop up. I can't say that its content surprised me. -{{ Are you saying that you turned off your phone for SEX? }}-

A few quick clicks and my irritated response was on its way. -{{ You guys clearly weren't going to let it happen otherwise. }}-

-{{ You finally got laid? Tell me all about it! }}-

A few choice emojis conveyed how I felt about that suggestion. And Tyki at least got the message enough to stop bothering me - I received no further texts from him that night. But I couldn't be thankful for that. I knew that he was going to be just as annoying as Alma about this, which meant that Monday's meeting was going to suck.

I went back to watching Lenalee sleep, but my phone ringing distracted me once more. I glanced at the caller ID as I answered it, praying that it was actually Krory calling and not Alma stealing his phone again. "Hello?"

There was a lot of background noise on the other end of the line, very clearly identifiable as bar chatter, over which I distinctly heard a thud and Krory's voice demanding that Alma give him his phone back. A second or two later and the bar noise faded, indicating that the phone had been taken outside. "Sorry about that, Allen. Alma wants details about your night and he's clearly going to stop at nothing to get them."

"Clearly." I snorted in annoyance. "I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up here."

Krory laughed at the joke that wasn't really a joke. We both knew all too well that when Alma wanted something, he was going to get it; it's why the purple haired vampire made such a great PI. "So, how are you doing?"

It sounded like a casual subject change, but I knew that it was actually a very serious question. Krory was just too polite to ask me directly about how I felt now that I'd lost my virginity. I also knew that his concern was genuine, so there was no need for me to try to evade the question. "I don't really know. It's just so weird. I don't actually _feel_ any stronger, but I can tell that I am. Does that make any sense?"

The silence on the other end of the line told me that it didn't. And that was disappointing. Krory was one of the oldest vampires I knew; I had hoped he'd have some insight into this to give to me. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, trying to come up with a different way to explain what I meant. "It's just that... I feel exactly the same... but then I look at her... and she looks so much more fragile than I've ever seen her before... And I know that that's because I'm stronger than I used to be, and not because she's weaker, but it doesn't feel that way, and that's ... weird."

When I finished stumbling through my explanation, Krory laughed. "There's no need to get so worked up, Allen. It sounds to me like you just need to give it some time and you'll feel better in a couple days once you've gotten used to it."

Logically, I knew he was right about waiting to see if things calmed down before I panicked, but something else was nagging at me now. "So you think this new urge I have to bite her will go away?"

The older vampire outright laughed at me over my question. "You're just thirsty. Go get something to drink and that feeling will go away."

"I already did, and it didn't help." I picked up my glass of blood and frowned at how empty it was. "I'm no longer hungry and I still want to bite her."

That made Krory stop laughing and return to his usual serious self. "When you say 'bite', do you mean that you want to feed off her or that you want to turn her?"

My frown deepened as I thought about what he was asking, but I quickly grew frustrated with the whole thing. "I don't know! It's just an urge to bite her!"

"Allen-"

I cut him off with a heavy sigh. "If I had to pick, I'd say it's leaning towards turn. But that's probably just because I've promised her that I won't feed off her again. The desire to drink her blood is basically just as strong as my desire to turn her is."

Krory was silent for a moment as he processed what I'd told him. "How does this compare with the desire you had to bite her before tonight?"

I shrugged even though I knew he couldn't see me. It was a strange question, and I wondered where he was going with it. "It doesn't. Not really. Before tonight, I've only ever felt like biting her when I was especially stressed or hungry, which has only happened twice."

"And what about the others?"

"Huh?"

Krory laughed lightly before he clarified the question. "You've been a vampire for five years, Allen. How does this feeling compare to those humans you've fed off in the past?"

That was a question I didn't want to think about, let alone actually answer. "What is it that you're getting at, Krory?"

"I think you've finally realized that Miss Lenalee is human."

The calmly spoken words floored me. "What are you talking about? I've always known that she's human."

"Maybe. But you haven't acted like it." I blinked at his words, but he spoke again before I could argue with him. "Miss Lenalee has frequently complained that the way you act around her makes her forget that you're a vampire. We'd all written it off as you being you, but maybe there's a reason for it. Maybe it's because _you_ have been forgetting that _she's_ human."

I was familiar with Lenalee's complaints, but I wasn't aware that the others also knew about them. And while Krory's explanation for why she felt that way made sense, I definitely didn't like it. "And _why_ would I have been doing _that_?"

"Because you love her."

I don't know how long I sat there staring at my phone while I tried to come up with something to say back to the older vampire, but before I thought of anything, Krory laughed and hung up the phone. "Sorry, Alma found me. We'll have to continue this some other time."

I continued to stare at my phone long after the line went dead. My mind was reeling over what Krory had said, and it took me a while to process it. If I was understanding him correctly, he was saying that my vampire instincts had finally overpowered my feelings for Lenalee. Not completely, obviously, as I still loved her and wanted to marry her, but the honeymoon phase was over. Instead of being around her like it was nothing, from now until I turned her, I was going to have to work to suppress my vampire nature around her or risk giving in and biting her.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard Lenalee's heart rate and breathing change. She was starting to wake up.

I quickly moved to the kitchen, taking my empty glass with me so that she wouldn't have to see it. After washing out the glass and putting it away, I noticed a plastic bag on the counter. The bag was a 'gift' from Alma; it was supposed to contain everything I'd need for my first time with Lenalee. I'd looked through it when he'd given it to me, but its contents were all stupid and pointless, so I had left it on the counter and promptly forgotten about it. But seeing it now, I remembered that there was a sports drink in there, and I now understood that it was for Lenalee. If I had been thirsty after what we'd done, then she would be too. And she would need more than water.

I returned to the bedroom right as Lenalee was blinking her violet eyes open. She smiled shyly when she saw me, and I was disappointed that she kept the blanket wrapped around her as she sat up. I handed her the drink bottle and her smile brightened as she took it from me. "Thanks. How long was I out?"

The question made me laugh. "Only a couple hours. It's still Saturday."

She nodded in thought as she twisted the lid off the bottle and began to drink the neon blue liquid. I took that as my cue to return to the desk chair. I wanted to sit with her, but I also wanted to keep some distance between us because the urge to bite her was still going strong.

Lenalee frowned at my actions, clearly disappointed by how far away I was. What I didn't expect was for her to call me out on it. "Why are you sitting so far away? Is something wrong?"

The mixture of concern and fear in her voice made me feel bad. I frowned and looked away from her, answering her question with a question. "How does your shoulder feel?"

"My shoulder? What-?" The confused question was immediately followed by her trying to look at her shoulder while she explored the skin with her slender fingers. From the way she winced at the touch, the area was still sore. But then her fingers found the mark from one of my fangs. I froze in fear as I waited for her to put it together and react. She blinked slowly as she looked up at me; the emotion on her face was a cross between shock and confusion. "You bit me?"

I couldn't bring myself to meet her gaze. "Sorry."

Lenalee was silent for an uncomfortably long time, and I wasn't about to interrupt her thought process. When she finally spoke, her words were slow and deliberate. "... Was it during or after?"

"During." I didn't know what she was getting at with the question, but I sure as hell wasn't going to lie about it.

She let out a long sigh and the tension in her body dissipated. "So it wasn't deliberate."

I blinked at her, completely stunned by her lack of reaction. "You're not mad at me?"

Lenalee shook her head as her fingers continued to trace the bite marks on her shoulder. "We've had this conversation before, you know."

 _We have?_ I blinked at her, but she continued to talk, not letting me get the question out. "Of course, the circumstances were a little different back then - I was the one trying to figure out why you weren't mad at me - but I think what you told me then applies here. So long as it was truly an accident, then there's nothing to be mad at."

While it felt good to hear that she wasn't angry at me, I was a little unsettled by how casually she approached the subject, especially given how upset she'd gotten the last time I drank her blood. "Are you sure?"

She shrugged, clearly uncertain now that I had challenged her resolve. "Given how intense that got, I shouldn't be surprised that you lost control. You did warn me that that could happen. And all you did was bite me. You didn't injure me or turn me or do anything else weird. And you're clearly sorry about it, so yeah, I'm sure. I'm not mad at you for biting me. Just try not to let it happen again, ok?"

The good feeling that had been building inside me as she spoke died with those words. My face fell. "About that... That's kinda why I'm sitting over here."

Lenalee just blinked at me as she took another sip from her drink. "What do you mean?"

I sighed heavily, trying to figure out how to say what I meant without freaking her out. "Ever since we... did _that_ ," I kicked myself internally; I'd had sex with this girl, but I still couldn't say those words around her, "I've wanted to bite you again. I-"

"You can stop there, Allen." Lenalee smiled gently as she cut me off, screwing the lid onto the half-finished bottle and setting it aside. "Alma sort of explained this the other day, so I think I understand what you're trying to say. I just need to know one thing: does this change your resolution to not feed off me?"

"I don't know." I didn't want to tell her that, but I also didn't want her to be freaking out while I tried to collect my thoughts. So I ended up sharing my thoughts as they came to me. "My reasons for not wanting to drink your blood haven't changed; I don't want to grow dependent on you as a blood source. But my vampire instincts are now saying that there would be nothing better than feeding off you all the time. So I guess, the answer that you're wanting from me is no, this doesn't change things as far as you are concerned. I still don't want to feed off you, but it's going to be a lot harder than it used to be. But that's my problem; it's nothing for you to worry about."

She snorted and rolled her eyes at me; it was a very different reaction from what I was expecting. "Baka."

I blinked at her in surprise, but she continued to chew me out. "In case you've forgotten, we're engaged. I am your fiancée and that makes this my problem. And that also means that you should be helping me with mine."

"You have a problem?" I raised an eyebrow at her, trying to figure out where she was going with this.

"Yeah, I just had sex with this guy, but now he's avoiding me." I made a face at her when I realized that she was talking about me, but she didn't let me interrupt. "He should be sitting with me, but instead he's keeping his distance. I know that it's because he's afraid of hurting me, but I don't think he realizes that it hurts me emotionally to have him act like that. I just want him to hold me in his arms."

When she finally let up, I threw my hands up in surrender. "Ok, ok, I get it."

She smirked smugly at me. "Good. Now get your ass back on this bed and hold me like you should have been from the moment I woke up."

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A/N #2: Next week is Thanksgiving, so I won't be posting any updates that week. You'll see chapter 30 in three weeks (12/7).


	30. Engagement Aftermath

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Here's chapter 30!

To jy24: I hadn't thought of that. Komui definitely would be the type to call every day. Hmm... well, he _is_ in a different country than she is, which would put him in a different time zone, and with her class and work schedule being all over the place, there are limited times in which their schedules would actually line up. It's reasonable to assume that she has convinced him that he's only allowed to call her at specific times. Anyway, to answer your question: Komui will be showing up in chapter 32.

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There were a whole lot of emotions that I anticipated that I would feel after the first time Allen bit me. After what had happened that day at the restaurant, I knew the day would come when he would lose control and bite me, so I'd been doing my best to prepare myself for that eventuality. After all, I knew what getting bitten by a vampire felt like.

Depending on the circumstances of how it happened, I thought I would feel angry or hurt. It never occurred to me that what I would actually feel would be indifference. It didn't bother me in the slightest that Allen had bitten me during sex.

It was strange, but I chalked that up to the fact that Allen was my fiancé. Getting bitten by the man I loved and respected was obviously going to be different from getting bitten by the stranger who broke into my home and killed my parents. However, that didn't mean that I was just going to let Allen bite me whenever he wanted to. Not only was I not ready for that, it was something that I didn't want to be happening between us.

When I finally coaxed Allen into joining me on the bed, he wrapped his arms around me and placed a gentle kiss on one of the marks on my shoulder. "I really am sorry for biting you."

I rolled my eyes at him and nudged him away. "Stop apologizing already. It's getting annoying." The way he scowled at me in response was adorable. I rolled my eyes again and gave him a quick kiss. "I'm not mad. And Anita was right, it didn't hurt. So can we change the subject and move on?"

He made a face at me, but then he sighed and leaned closer to me. "Fine."

We sat in silence for a while, apparently not knowing what to say to each other. But it was a comfortable silence, so I wasn't complaining. It felt good to sit with Allen like that.

Eventually his attention turned to the ring on my finger, and as he fiddled with it, I was reminded of why he had proposed to me in the first place. I sighed heavily, disappointed that he hadn't proposed because he wanted to marry me, and finally broke the quiet. "How much time do you think we bought?"

"Does it matter?" His rhetorical question made me blink. I looked up in surprise, but before I could question him, he continued to talk. "If you didn't have class on Monday, I'd turn you right now."

The calmly stated words had me severely confused. When had Allen changed his mind about turning me? The last time we had talked about it, he wasn't any more ready than I was. "What?"

Allen smiled sheepishly at me, clearly thinking that he had upset me. "Sorry, I probably should have kept that to myself. What I meant to say was-"

"Allen, don't." As I listened to him stumble over his words, everything began to make sense. "When did you decide that you actually want to marry me?"

He looked away in embarrassment. "When I bought the ring."

That nearly took my breath away. This wasn't forced on us. Allen had proposed because it was what he wanted, and I had accepted because it was what I wanted. "Then I guess the next step is to pick a date."

"You-!" Allen gaped at me, shock written all over his face. He stuttered and stumbled over his words for a moment before he gave up on trying to talk and captured my lips in a fierce kiss. I was gasping for breath by the time he let go, but the smile he gave me was so bright that I didn't care. "I love you so much, Lena."

He kissed me briefly once more, and then he pulled me into a tight and comfortable embrace. He laughed lightly and brushed my hair out of my face. "When did _you_ change your mind?"

"When you proposed, so just a few hours ago." The way his body stiffened in surprise was adorable and I loved being so close to him that I could feel his reactions. But as much as I wanted to, I knew I couldn't stop my explanation there; however personal it may have been, he needed to know this now or it would just come back to bite me later. "There's a lot that I'm still not ready for, but I now know that this is what I want out of life. I want to marry you and l want to let you turn me. Someday. I don't know when, or even if, I'll ever be ready, but I also know that we may not have a choice in the matter. So-"

Allen cut me off with a kiss. "It means so much to me to hear that you want me to turn you. And I get what you're trying to say, so you don't have to force it. Let's get you cleaned up and I'll take you home, ok?"

I was disappointed to hear him say that. "Really? But it's so late..."

He just laughed. "It's bedtime for you, but it's morning for me, remember? I could leave you here, but I need to-" Allen paused to censor himself, but it was pretty clear that he was about to say something about drinking blood. "... I have things to do, so you'd be alone, and I'm pretty sure that you'd rather be alone in the comfort of your own home. Right?"

The smirk he gave me made me giggle. "Alright. But you'll have to give me some privacy while I get dressed."

"We just had sex, Lenalee. I've seen you naked." The confused look on his face was adorable.

I just shook my head at him. "That's exactly the point. I don't need you ogling me while I put my clothes on."

Allen snorted in annoyance, but he did what I asked, grabbing a clean shirt from the closet before leaving the room. I dressed quickly and smoothed out my hair as best I could with just my fingers, and then I went out into the hall.

I shrieked slightly when Allen's arms were suddenly around my waist, as I hadn't expected him to be right there waiting for me, but the shock faded when he pulled me into a kiss. I don't know how long we stood there, making out in the hallway, but it definitely wasn't long enough. Before I would have liked, Allen had pulled away and was leading me towards the front door.

In the middle of putting on our shoes, Allen suddenly straightened up and bolted from the room. The look of realization on his face told me that he had just remembered something, so I didn't think anything of it; after all, he returned almost immediately. He smiled brightly as he took my hand and pressed something hard and metallic into it. When I looked down, I was startled to find two keys resting on my palm. Allen kissed my forehead as he laughed at whatever look was on my face. "I've got keys to your place, so it's only fair that you've got ones to mine, right? The smaller one is for the elevator, and the access code to the garage is my birthdate." He made a face at that. "It's not the most secure passcode, but Uncle Neah set it and I couldn't bring myself to change it."

Closing my hand around the keys, I leaned closer to him and cut him off with a kiss. "Thank you."

.x.x.

Sunday passed without much fanfare. I spent most of the day getting ready to go back to class on Monday, and then the evening was spent out at the bar with Allen and our friends. They teased us a little about our engagement and about finally having sex, but for the most part it was just a normal evening.

I got a few comments on my ring at school, but it wasn't until I arrived at work that afternoon that someone had a major reaction to it.

I was standing at my open locker before my shift, trying to recall what the restaurant's policy towards jewelry was and debating whether or not I should take the ring off for work, when Miranda came in. I had my back to the door, so I couldn't see her, but I knew it was her from the way she shrieked. I had no clue what she was freaking out about, but given that she was immediately at my side and taking my left hand in hers, I was able to figure that out pretty quickly. "Oh my god! Allen proposed?!"

Even though she was invading my personal space, I couldn't help grinning at her words. "He did."

Miranda shrieked again, drawing the attention of everyone else in the room. For the next ten minutes, I was the center of attention as I told my friends-slash-coworkers about my engagement and they fawned over my ring. I normally wouldn't have liked having everyone focused on me like that, but I was only planning on getting engaged once, making this a once in a lifetime kind of moment.

The moment ended when Reever came into the room and cleared his throat. Most everyone realized what was happening and scattered before he could chide us for not doing our jobs, but I was not so lucky. In the time it took me to blink, I was alone in the staff room with my boss. Who just so happened to be my brother's best friend.

And that was the moment that I realized that I hadn't told Komui about my engagement. It just hadn't crossed my mind before then.

I smiled when I accepted Reever's congratulations, but it was forced. Unfortunately, he noticed my reaction. "What's wrong?"

I swallowed hard and looked away from him. "I- I haven't told Komui yet." Even though I wasn't looking, I still caught the way his eyes went wide. It made me even more nervous, and I started babbling. "I know I have to, but I haven't figured out how to do it without setting him off. I can't risk having him hurt Allen."

The thought of Allen, the top enforcer for the Noah, being in danger from my brother, an overworked engineer, was so ridiculous that it snapped me out of my panic. I turned my sweetest smile on Reever and prayed he'd give in. "Can you please promise that you'll keep this a secret until I'm ready to tell him myself? I don't want him to find out through the grapevine..."

Reever sighed heavily and ran a hand through his dark blond hair. "I understand where you're coming from, but I can't promise that, Lenalee. I'll keep my mouth shut about it, but I won't lie to him. If he asks me about it, I'm going to have to be honest with him."

I didn't like it, but it was clearly the best response I was going to get out of him, so I accepted it and let the subject drop.

Turning my focus on work, I made my way to the Noah's room and set about straightening it up before they arrived. After a week without meetings, the place needed a thorough wipe down.

Sherril and Road came in while I was working, and while he ignored me like usual, sitting down in his place and pulling out his notebook, she was immediately in my personal space. Before I could react to her presence, she was pulling my left hand away from the chair I was cleaning. I froze at the touch, but I relaxed as I realized that she just wanted to see my ring. The petulant demand she aimed at me did not help with those feelings of fear and panic though. "Where is it?!"

I tried to pull my hand away, and to my surprise, she actually let go. "It's in my locker. I'm not allowed to wear it while I'm working."

The answer seemed to satisfy her, as she immediately relaxed, but the spiky haired vampire continued to stare at me with her arms crossed over her chest. She didn't say anything though, so I returned to my cleaning.

I left the room at one point, and when I came back, everyone had arrived. Going about my business as usual, I was caught off guard by the next thing that happened. As I approached the table, intending to take drink orders, the Earl suddenly addressed me. "Sit down, Miss Lee."

Fear hit me hard with that order, it couldn't mean anything good, but I managed to make myself move to the vacant chair reserved for guests and sat down. My mind was going crazy and my heart was pounding, which I'm sure the vampires all knew, but instead of focusing on me, they turned their attention on Allen. "You proposed awfully fast. When do you plan on finishing the deed?"

I swallowed as I realized that they were asking when he was going to turn me. We hadn't discussed that yet, but we apparently should have. The question didn't faze Allen in the slightest though. My fiancé looked briefly in my direction before turning a level stare on Sherril. "June at the earliest."

The other vampires all reacted in disapproval, which disappointed me, as I had liked Allen's answer; it meant a lot that he knew without me having to say it that I wanted to finish school before we did this. Sherril fixed Allen with a scowl that made my skin crawl. "That is not an acceptable time frame."

Those words made Allen angry. He glared at the others and practically snarled as he responded. "Turning her has to wait until after she graduates. She's going to need time to recover and adjust to the change, and she can't do that and go to school at the same time."

He took a deep breath to calm himself before he continued to speak. "Look, I know you don't exactly trust me because I'm young, but that's exactly why you have to believe me right now. It's been at least twenty years since one of you turned someone, making me the one who's been through this the most recently. It has to wait until she's done with school. End of discussion."

Sherril clearly understood, as he looked ready to drop the conversation and moved to dismiss me, but Tyki spoke up before he could. "Now, now, Shounen. There's no need to get huffy. We're just concerned about you. We all know you're not going to sleep with her until you're married."

I turned bright red. I wanted to run from the room in embarrassment, but I was too scared to move. On the other hand, it just made Allen mad. "We've been through this, Tyki. I've already slept with her."

Tyki's reaction surprised me. The dark haired vampire laughed so hard he snorted. "And I know you were lying, so knock it off already."

What happened next was a bit of a blur. My pulse was roaring in my ears as I sat there frozen, completely mortified, as the vampires all started talking about my sex life. It was sort of tolerable, in that they were focused on Allen and the fact that he had lost his virginity, but that didn't change the fact that I was incredibly uncomfortable with the situation. It definitely didn't help that I was confused as to why any of this mattered to them.

When I couldn't take any more, I gathered my courage and slipped out of the room. To distract myself, I focused on waitressing and avoided the Noah until I could be sure that things had quieted down.

I really wasn't all that surprised to bump into Allen in the break room; he was clearly taking a moment to escape from the teasing and scrutiny that undoubtedly had yet to stop. Taking advantage of his obvious reluctance to return to the room, I sat down beside him and tried to get him to satisfy my curiosity. "Why are they making such a big deal out of us having slept together? I mean, Alma told me that you're going to be more vampire-like now, but there's clearly more to it than that, otherwise the Noah wouldn't be making such a big deal out of this."

Allen sighed heavily, and I knew before he started talking that he was going to try to evade the question. "It's too long and complicated to get into right now, but the short version is that vampires who wait too long go crazy."

I blinked at him in surprise; while I had rightly expected him to only half answer my question, I was not expecting that answer to be _that_. But before I could react, Allen continued to explain. "Sex is ingrained into the vampire nature; if a vampire goes too long without sex, they go completely insane and end up as serial killers or rapists or worse. Because it's not like when newborn vampires go on a rampage. Those vampires are feral and acting entirely on animalistic instinct. These vampires maintain their knowledge and higher thought processes, which makes them clever, and that makes them even more dangerous."

He paused, but he didn't give me the chance to react before he moved the conversation along. " _Anyway..._ that hasn't happened since humans learned about vampires, and I'm no longer at risk for it, so there's really nothing to worry about."


	31. Marie

A/N: This chapter did not want to get written. But not only did I get done on time, I hit the word goal too. Woo! I hope you enjoy it!

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Being engaged to Allen had brought fewer changes to Lenalee's life than she had expected, and with finals coming up at school, that was definitely a good thing. Stressed with studying, Lenalee decided to put off telling Komui about her engagement until she had the proper mindset for figuring out the best way to break the news without freaking him out.

But even with all of her focus on school, when she was at work, she still put one hundred percent of her effort into working. Which was good, as the Noah ignored her a lot less than they did prior to her engagement, and she did not want to do anything stupid or careless in front of them.

In fact, Lenalee was so focused on her job that she almost missed the man sitting in Miranda's section during Saturday's lunch service. But even that passing glance was enough to capture her attention. She didn't know who he was, but she definitely recognized him from somewhere and it bothered her that she couldn't place him. So on her way back through the dining room, she made sure to get a better look at him.

The man was quite tall, with tanned skin and a strong build, and he appeared to be in his early thirties. He was dressed nicely, and the only thing out of place about his appearance was the oversized headphones he wore around his neck. In all honesty, his companion, an older gentleman with frizzy gray hair and an equally frizzy mustache, had a much more eye catching appearance. But it was the tall man who held Lenalee's attention. The more she thought about it, the more she could swear that she knew him from somewhere.

After thinking it over for a few minutes, the Chinese girl decided to ask Miranda about him. He was sitting in the German woman's section, so there was a chance that she knew something about him.

Locating the brunette as she exited the kitchen, Lenalee quickly approached her, and knowing the other's tendency to get easily distracted, she got straight to the point. "Hey, Miranda? What do you know about the tall guy at table four? I feel like I know him, but I can't figure out where I know him from."

"Who?" Confused, Miranda looked around the dining room to see which patron Lenalee was referring to. And when she noticed him, she knew exactly what was going on. "Oh."

She giggled nervously, blushing slightly as she smiled at the Chinese woman. "That's Marie. My ...boyfriend. He likes to visit me at work, so he comes in quite a bit. You probably recognize him from all the other times he's been here. I'm sure I've pointed him out to you before."

While she didn't actually remember Miranda introducing her to the man, the explanation made a lot of sense, so Lenalee accepted it and smiled thankfully at her friend. "I'm sure you have. Thanks, Miranda."

She returned to her work, but as the minutes passed, she became less satisfied with the thought that she knew Marie through Miranda. There was somewhere else that she knew him from. If only she could figure out what that was.

It took Allen no time at all to notice that something was bothering his fiancée. Lenalee was acting distant and distracted, and her heart rate was unusually fast. He initially decided to wait until after work to talk to her about it, but the more he watched her, the more her distraction bothered him. So when there was a lull in the meeting, he seized the opportunity and followed Lenalee out into the hall.

Catching up with the Chinese woman, Allen wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a kiss that she was quick to return. The kiss was so good that he very nearly forgot that he had a reason for following her. "What's wrong?"

Lenalee blinked her violet eyes at him, confused by his concern. "What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong."

Allen frowned as he pulled her closer and gently wrapped his hand around her wrist. "Are you sure about that? Your pulse is going crazy."

She blushed, laughing awkwardly at the fact that Allen had misread her distress as she slipped her wrist out of his grasp. "Ah, that. Yes, I'm sure that nothing's wrong. I just saw someone I recognize, but I can't place where I know him from and it's really bothering me. But it's no big deal. And it's definitely not anything you need to worry about. I-"

Allen didn't even have to look around the restaurant to know exactly which patron Lenalee was referring to. "You mean Marie?"

Lenalee gaped at him for a moment, startled that he had already figured out who she was talking about. "Right, _that's_ what Miranda said his name was." At the look Allen gave her, she explained further. "She suggested that I know him because he's her boyfriend, but that doesn't feel right. I know him from someplace else, somewhere outside of the restaurant."

The white haired vampire smiled sweetly and moved his arms to around her waist. "You _do_ know him. Though I don't think you've officially met yet. He's Kanda's older brother."

"What! His 'brother'?!" Getting over her initial shock, Lenalee scowled suspiciously at her fiancé. "Those two are _related_?"

Allen laughed, genuinely amused by Lenalee's surprise. "By adoption."

"Oh. Ok. That makes more sense." She flashed an awkward smile as she tried to blow off the subject.

Smiling mischievously, Allen said something that was sure to make her freak out more. "You'd probably also be interested to know that Marie is one of the few people Kanda actually likes."

That made Lenalee snicker. "Really? There's someone that Kanda gets along with?"

Allen smirked in response to her sarcasm. "How else do you think we get him to come out with us? He only comes to Hevlaska's with us because Marie is the DJ there."

With that comment, Lenalee finally placed where she'd seen Marie before. It was random glimpses under poor bar lighting and he was always focused on his job; it was no wonder that she didn't recognize him in the well-lit restaurant. " _Ohh_... He's the _DJ_..."

Allen blinked at the look of stunned recognition that crossed Lenalee's face. "Did I not tell you that?" She shook her head. "Sorry, I meant to lead with it."

The conversation died briefly as they just stood there, staring awkwardly at each other. But then an idea struck Allen, and he brightened. "Anyway, do you want me to introduce you to him?"

The suggestion made Lenalee get a little flustered. As curious as she was to meet Kanda's brother, the suggestion put her on the spot. "No, that's not necessary. It can wait for another time."

Allen laughed as he took her hand and began to lead her across the restaurant. "It's really no problem. You'd have met him at Thanksgiving if you'd have been able come."

Lenalee relented, allowing him to take her towards Marie's table. It went unnoticed by her, but Allen froze in panic when he finally noticed the man Marie was dining with. The young vampire wasn't prepared to see Teidoll at Bella Ragazza, and his mind was racing through possible explanations for it; it was very much unlike the senior FBI agent to be on the Noah family's turf. But he was with Marie, so it probably wasn't anything official, so Allen forced himself to act like everything was normal.

Teidoll actually was there in an official capacity. Having their undercover agent be forced into an engagement was a rather serious kink in their operation, and while Cross was content to let things play out, Teidoll wanted to meet the young woman before he passed judgment on the situation. He needed to speak with her in person and determine for himself what she was like. His previous attempts to meet her had failed - it was a great disappointment to him that she had skipped Thanksgiving dinner - so he decided to take the risk and go to Bella Ragazza when he knew she would be working. Cross had laughed at him when he had told his partner what he was doing. The redheaded vampire accused him of mothering Allen, but Teidoll couldn't help it; he felt the same overprotective care for the young vampire as he did for his sons.

The two men looked up when the young couple approached their table. Marie smiled brightly and greeted Allen with a warm hug. "It's good to see you, Allen! Looks like Kanda hasn't killed you yet."

Allen made a face at the comment. "It's certainly not for a lack of trying."

Everyone laughed at his words, and Lenalee relaxed, put at ease by the rather obvious fact that Marie was nothing like his brother. Allen let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist, smiling as he pulled her closer. "Anyway, this is Lenalee, my fiancée. I thought I'd bring her over and introduce her to you, since she didn't come to Thanksgiving."

"It's nice to finally meet you." Marie took Lenalee's hand when she offered it to him, shaking it warmly. She scowled teasingly at Allen. "He makes it sound like I thought I was too cool to come, but the truth is that I had already agreed to work that day."

Marie laughed. "I know. And while I would have liked to meet you then, if you had come then Miranda would have had to work, and no offense to you or Allen, but I much prefer that I got to be with my girlfriend."

Catching the disapproving look that crossed Teidoll's face at the mention of Miranda, Allen laughed at the tall man's joke. "I think Teidoll and his china disagree with you on that."

Rolling his eyes, Marie snorted. "It was Daisya's fault that she broke those plates, and he knows it. Besides, isn't it your job as a psychic to stop things like that from happening?"

Lenalee giggled at the comment, remembering her own experiences with Allen and broken dinnerware. "If it is, he's not very good at his job. He's never there in time to stop things from breaking."

"Hey!"

At his protest, she giggled again and nudged his shoulder. "Relax. You try. And it's sweet that you help pick up the pieces."

Smiling at the interaction between the couple, Marie changed the subject. "Can I see the ring?"

Without waiting for a response, he grabbed Lenalee's left and pulled it to where he could get a better look at the ring on her finger. Without letting go, he turned a disappointed frown on Allen. "Really, Allen? That's the kind of engagement ring you bought? It's pathetic."

Before either young person could react, Marie was passing Lenalee's hand over to Teidoll, who scrutinized the simple gold band and turned a withering gaze on the white haired vampire. "With all the time you've spent around Cross, I would think you'd know better than to get a girl something so cheap and unimpressive. Couldn't you have sprung for at least _one_ diamond?"

Though she was enjoying watching Allen squirm uncomfortably under their criticism, Lenalee was quick to jump to his defense. "This isn't my actual engagement ring. It's just a stand in. The real one is too delicate for me to wear at work, so Allen bought me this one. It's plain so that I don't have to worry about damaging or losing it."

Teidoll was not satisfied with her explanation and continued to scowl at Allen. "Does the real one have a diamond?"

The white haired vampire scowled back and freed his fiancée's hand from the older man's grasp. "It has several. Can we drop this now? Is-"

The conversation came to an abrupt halt when Allen's phone buzzed. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and rolled his eyes at the message displayed on the screen. -{{ Stop making out with your girlfriend. We've got work for you to do. }}-

He showed the text to Lenalee, who snickered when she read it. While he frowned and put the phone away, she smiled sweetly at Marie and Teidoll. "Sorry. We've got to go. It was nice to meet you. We'll have to pick this up again at another time."

.x.x.

The week of final exams was chaotic for Lenalee. Her usual rigid class schedule was gone, and she had to move several things around in order to accommodate the changes.

One of those things was her self-defense lessons. She wanted to just cancel her lessons for the week, but Kanda wouldn't hear of that, so the lessons instead got scheduled for another time.

Which meant that instead of having peace and quiet for the meditation at the end of the lesson, the reception area of the dojo was full of elementary school boys, who were very loud and obnoxious while they waited for their class to start. Lenalee did her best to focus, but that was shot to hell when another boy arrived. He was louder than the rest, but that wasn't the problem. Even with her back turned, Lenalee knew exactly who he was; just the sound of his voice made her skin crawl.

Timothy always seemed to be in her section when he ate at Bella Ragazza, and he always seemed to spill something on her. It was beyond irritating. But not as irritating as the fact that he had recently figured out that if he spilled water on her while she was wearing white, her bra would show.

Lenalee planned to ignore the boy with the electric blue mullet on her way out, but unfortunately, Allen was her ride home, and he was talking with the boy's guardian. Forcing a friendly smile, she joined their conversation.

The brunette woman did a double take when Lenalee approached. "Hi. You work at Bella Ragazza, don't you?"

Lenalee didn't want to answer the question, but she couldn't be rude. "Yeah, I'm Lenalee."

"Emilia." They shook hands briefly, and Emilia blushed as she recalled what had happened the last time she'd seen Lenalee. Skirting around her embarrassment over Timothy's behavior, she changed the subject. "How do you know Allen?"

"He's my fiancé."

Emilia's blush deepened even further. Confused by the interaction between the two women, Allen butt in. "How do you two know each other?"

Emilia nervously looked away from Lenalee's steady stare, but she was surprised when the Chinese woman gave a tactful response. "Timothy is not a respectful diner."

Allen immediately understood what she was leaving out. He squatted down so that he was at Timothy's eye level, and tapped the boy on the shoulder to get his attention. "I hear you've been mean to my fiancée. You have to stop doing that, ok?"

Timothy's eyes went wide as he processed that the waitress he liked to tease was Allen's girlfriend. He nodded silently at the vampire he was mildly terrified of and quickly ran off to join his classmates as they gathered around Kanda.

Brushing off what had just happened, Allen smirked teasingly at Emilia. "So, how goes the crush on Kanda? Has he noticed you yet?"

Emilia snorted as she took a seat. "You know he hasn't. You could always say something to him and help me."

The suggestion made Allen snicker. "And you know he hates me, so you know that would do more harm than good."

The two continued to banter about Emilia's crush on Kanda, which was apparently the reason she made Timothy take karate lessons from the Japanese man. It was interesting to listen to, but not what Lenalee wanted to be doing, so she dropped the hint and Allen excused himself. As they walked out to Allen's car, Lenalee couldn't help laughing as she recalled something that had happened on their first date. "So. Alma was right. You do know everyone."


	32. Komui

Finals were over!

I wouldn't know my final grades for another week, but I felt pretty confident that I had passed all of my classes. None of that really mattered tonight though. All I cared about tonight was the fact that I was done. My tests were over, the papers were written, and the homework was all turned in. Not only had I survived the craziest semester of my life, but I hadn't missed a single deadline - a feat that had seemed impossible for the majority of the last two months. I felt incredibly accomplished for not letting the insanity of my personal life affect my schoolwork.

Which meant that tonight was a night for celebrating.

I even had the night off from work, which was quite unusual for a Friday. Allen was going to be picking me up in a little less than an hour and taking me somewhere special.

As was typical for him, he wouldn't tell me where we were going, which meant that I was at a loss for what to wear beyond the few hints he'd given me. I'd tried on every "semi-formal" dress in my closet - twice - and none of them felt good enough. I was running out of time to find something that would both satisfy me and make me look good for my fiancé.

A knocking at the door had me swearing under my breath and scrambling for my bathrobe. Allen was way too early. I threw the terry cloth garment on over my slip, tying it closed as I hurried to let Allen in.

It was not my fiancé at the door.

The porch light was out, so I was momentarily alarmed by the sight of a man who was much taller than Allen, especially when he pushed his way into my apartment before I could get a good look at him. But all that fear morphed into joy and laughter when he wrapped me in a hug. "LENALEEEEE!"

I momentarily felt stupid for not immediately recognizing my brother, but I was too happy to see him to really care about that.

Komui spun me around once before letting go. While I closed the door, he dropped his bag in the corner, and then he was embracing me once more. I laughed at the tight way he clung to me, loving the attention and forgetting all about the big news that I had yet to tell him.

When he calmed down and stopped his overexcited fawning over me, I was finally able to get a word in edgewise. "What are you doing here, Komui? I thought you were going to be stuck in Paris for another week."

"We finished the project early, and I knew you were done with classes, so I thought I'd surprise you and take you out to dinner tonight." His cheerful mood suddenly vanished and he became pouty and depressed. "Do you not want me here?"

I flushed deeply at his question, suddenly remembering that I was half-dressed for a date. "No. I just wish you would have called first. I've already got plans to go out tonight." I chose my words very carefully to avoid coming even remotely close to mentioning that those plans were with a boy I'd had sex with.

Komui's face fell even further when I told him I was busy. I forced as cheerful a smile as I could, but internally, I was panicking at the thought that Allen would be arriving soon. "Let me go make a few calls and I'll try to reschedule. Then we can go out together, ok?"

My brother tried to protest, saying that I didn't need to cancel plans with my friends for him, but I ignored him and retreated to my room. My goal wasn't to reschedule my date, it was to warn Allen that my brother had shown up unannounced and tell him to not come over. The last thing I needed was for Komui to meet my fiancé before I'd gotten him used to the idea that I was seeing someone.

There was one major problem with that though. My cell phone was on my bed. Buried under the mountain of dresses that I had been trying on. I threw myself at the pile, digging frantically for my phone and praying that I'd find it in time to warn Allen off.

.x.x.

I couldn't wait for my date with Lenalee tonight. I'd been planning this outing since before our engagement, and I was dying to see the look on her face when I told her where we were going. It took much more self-control than I would have liked to keep myself from showing up at her apartment early.

I was walking on air as I parked the car and climbed the stairs, but as I raised my arm to knock on the door, all that excitement died and I was immediately on edge. There was someone other than Lenalee inside her apartment.

The paranoid part of my brain immediately jumped to the worst possible alternatives, and I had to beat down the urge to break the door down and charge in. Logic won once I processed that I hadn't had a vision of this happening; the stranger in my fiancée's apartment was not a danger to her.

Calming down, I focused on what was happening on the other side of the door. Lenalee was in her bedroom and her guest was in the living room; her heartbeat indicated that she knew he was there, and while she wasn't afraid of him, she wasn't happy that he was there.

Identifying the stranger as a man brought my paranoia back to the surface. Was it possible that my fiancée was cheating on me?

The ridiculousness of the thought almost made me laugh. Collecting myself, I knocked on the door. There was no reason to stand outside like an idiot when all I had to do to learn what was going on was to go inside.

The door was opened by an older Chinese man with glasses and shoulder length purple hair. Even though I had never seen him before, I recognized him the second I laid eyes on him. Not only was there a strong familial resemblance between him and Lenalee, he was a dead ringer for their father, whom I vividly remembered from the time I had viewed Lenalee's past.

The stranger in my fiancée's apartment was simply her older brother.

I didn't need to see the blank look on his face to know that he didn't know who I was; Lenalee had been very open with the fact that she was keeping me a secret from him. And seeing the man now, I no longer doubted that she was doing it to protect me. He clearly wanted to kill me just for knocking on her door. But I was not going to let that scare me. Forcing my most charming smile, I offered my hand to him. "Hi, you must be Komui. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Allen."

The Chinese man's scowl grew even colder as he surveyed my outstretched hand. "You're not welcome here, vampire."

The words were full of venom and they startled me quite a bit. I knew that Komui wasn't going to treat me well once he knew who I was and what I'd done with his sister, but I was caught off guard by the way he immediately pegged me as a vampire. Sensitivity to the supernatural was hereditary, and given how long it had taken Lenalee to figure out what I was, I had expected Komui to be a lot more clueless. But while that was strange, it was the obvious hatred in his voice that threw me the most. Apparently, he hated vampires every bit as much as Lenalee used to.

Komui tried to close the door on me, but I quickly reached out and stopped it. I knew he was trying to ban me from entering and I couldn't let that happen. "That won't keep me out, sir. It's Lenalee's apartment. She's given me permission to come in whenever I want."

If it was possible, his scowl grew even colder at my words. "I pay her rent. If I say you can't come in then you can't come in."

I did not want to find out if he could ban me from entering on the technicality of it being his money that paid for the apartment. But I also didn't want to reveal that I had a key or that I was engaged to his sister. It was time to see if I could bluff my way through this. "Then you should also know that I also have permission from the lady who owns the building. I believe that trumps the technicality of it being your money."

"As if I'd believe that, vampire. You'd say anything to get me to let you in." And then he slammed the door in my face.

I sighed heavily as I heard the lock click. I hadn't wanted it to come to this, but now I had no choice. Fishing Lenalee's key out of my pocket, I quickly unlocked the door and stepped inside.

.x.x.

Komui had recognized Allen's name the moment he heard it. His sister had gone a date with this boy a few months earlier, and as far as he knew, that was the end of it. Despite his gentlemanly mannerisms, Allen was obviously stalking Lenalee after she had broken up with him. His precious, innocent sister probably didn't even know that the brat was a vampire. It was his duty to get rid of the pesky vampire and make sure that he stayed away.

Satisfied with his efforts to ban Allen from the apartment, Komui whipped around in shock when he heard the door open. The vampire was actually doing a good job of masking his smug smirk behind a polite smile as he closed the door and put his keys away. "Like I said, that won't work, sir."

Komui glared at Allen, working hard to repress his urge to get physical with the vampire, as he knew that was a fight he would lose. "How did you get a key?"

"Lenalee gave it to me."

Even though Allen's facial expressions indicated that he was telling the truth, Komui did not believe that for a second. "No, you stole it and made a copy when she wasn't looking."

Allen shook his head. "It doesn't work like that, sir."

He was about to explain further, but that was when Lenalee walked into the room. She had heard the commotion at the door, but in her frantic state, it had taken her a while to realize that the commotion was because Allen had arrived.

She sighed heavily at the way Komui was obviously trying to make Allen leave. "Komui. Knock that off. Let Allen in."

Komui immediately began whining about it being his duty to keep boys who only want to take her purity out of her apartment. The words made Lenalee even more frustrated than she already was and she snapped at him. "That ship has sailed, Komui. My 'purity' has been gone for a while now. So back off and let my fiancé in already."

"F-f-fiancé?!" Komui was torn between grief over what his precious sister had just said and rage towards the man who had touched her. "But he's a vampire!"

"I'm aware of that." She fixed her brother with a withering look and pointed to the couch. "Now go sit down and be quiet."

Komui fixed her with puppy dog eyes, but she didn't give in, staring sternly at him until he did what she wanted.

Turning her attention to Allen, who was standing just inside the door and trying not to draw attention to himself, she sighed before smiling apologetically at him. "Sorry about that. He just sort of showed up at my door and there wasn't time to call you and warn you. Do you mind rescheduling so that I can deal with this?"

Allen gave her an awkward smile. "Normally I wouldn't mind at all, but what I've got planned for tonight is kind of a one time only thing."

Instead of elaborating, he reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope. When he offered it to her, Lenalee took it and pulled out the pair of tickets it held. Her eyes went wide and she almost dropped them when she saw what they were for.

Allen never ceased to surprise her. She had wanted to go see Jefferson from the moment she heard the musical was coming to town, but the tickets were far too expensive for her to get them for herself. "How did you get these?! They sold out within minutes of going on sale."

He raised an eyebrow and gave her a look that she immediately understood. "Right. I don't want to know."

Allen laughed lightly as he took the tickets back and put them away. "Anyway, we can cancel the dinner plans, but the tickets are only good for tonight; if we don't use them, they'll go to waste."

Lenalee shot a glance back at her brother, who was watching their conversation intently. "Right, then I guess I'd better handle this quickly."

She expected Allen to laugh, so when the only response she got was silence, she turned back towards him. She caught him just in time to see his silver eyes glaze over before he collapsed.

Startled over seeing a vampire pass out, Komui rushed over and tried to help his little sister. "What happened?"

Lenalee shook her head. "I'm not sure. He's mentioned before that he sometimes passes out when he has a psychic vision, so that's probably what this is, but I don't know if he needs help or if-"

She cut off when Allen suddenly groaned and started swearing. He was clearly disoriented, so she offered him a hand when he tried to stand up. "Thanks."

After taking another moment to gain his bearings, Allen smiled apologetically at Lenalee. "I need to make a phone call. Excuse me for a minute."

He stepped outside and closed the door behind him, but the Lee siblings could still hear him rather clearly. Allen was more than a little put off by what he'd seen, and as such, he was swearing a lot more than he usually would have.

Hearing Tyki's name, Lenalee understood that something was happening with the Noah, and while she was curious over what Allen had seen, she knew that this was not a conversation she wanted to overhear.

Leading Komui into the living room, they sat down together and she told him the romanticized version of her engagement that she had made up for her coworkers and classmates. She didn't particularly feel right about lying to her brother, especially since he was the only family she had, but she knew that she couldn't tell him the truth. Komui would freak out if he knew that she had gotten involved with a member of the Noah family.

Komui knew that she was embellishing the story, but Allen returned before he could call her on it.

Having heard what transpired while he was gone, Allen was much more relaxed, and as such, he had the confidence to display affection for Lenalee in front of her brother. He sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She smiled and leaned into him. "Did you get everything taken care of?"

While he had done everything in his power to try to stop his vision from coming true, Allen did not believe that he was successful. Tyki thought his plan was foolproof and hadn't believed that he was telling the truth about it going wrong. But it was out of his hands now, and he certainly wasn't going to let this ruin his big date with Lenalee, so he faked a cheerful smile and lied to her. "Yep. It's all been handled."

Lenalee smiled back at him. "Good."

But while she was content to let the subject drop, Komui fixed Allen with an accusatory scowl. "How often do you lie to my sister like that?"

Allen and Lenalee shared a look before he turned back to her brother. "If you're trying to get me in trouble, you're wasting your time, sir. She already knows that the nature of my job requires me to be dishonest with her. And she knew it before she agreed to go out with me."

The room grew silent and the three stared awkwardly at each other as they tried to figure out what to say next. Not being able to handle the tension, Lenalee jumped to her feet and excused herself. "I've got to go get dressed if we're going to make it to the show on time. I'll be back in a bit."

Still concerned over her, Komui followed Lenalee into her bedroom, sitting down on her bed while she picked a dress out of the pile. "So who is Allen really? He's clearly not just some guy you met at work. And he's clearly not a normal vampire."

Turning her back to her brother, Lenalee sighed as she pulled off her robe and slipped into the dress, trying to do it as quickly as possible so that he wouldn't see anything. "You're not going to like the answer to that question."

Komui's concern spiked with her evasive answer. "You're in some kind of trouble, aren't you?"

After a moment of hesitation, Lenalee decided to be honest with her brother. "Yes. But it's not Allen's fault. And it's nothing you can help me with, so you can't freak out, ok?"

Lenalee paused, and while she waited for her brother to nod, she moved over to the vanity and began to do her hair. "Allen works for the mob. Through circumstances that were out of my control, I ended up in their organization as well. He's helping me get out."

Komui felt like his brain was going to explode over what he was hearing. "Lenalee-!"

"No. I'm an adult, Komui. You have to let me make my own choices. Ok?" She set down her brush, slipped on her shoes, and stalked to the doorway.

Before leaving the room, Lenalee turned around and fixed Komui with her sternest expression to show him that she meant what she was about to say. "Now, I'm going to go out with Allen, and you're going to let me leave. You're not going to follow us, and you're not going to go through any of my things while I'm gone. Got it?"


	33. Christmas

A/N: This chapter marks the end of my original outline for this story (the one I created before I started writing the story). I've obviously added more to the outline since then, as this story clearly isn't finished yet, but I'm feeling pretty accomplished.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

When we got back after the show, Komui was asleep on the couch, clearly having attempted to stay up and wait for us. Fortunately, even with his overprotective side, the fact that he was used to a different time zone meant that he was out like a light and wouldn't be pestering me about my relationship any more that night. So I tiptoed cautiously around him and went straight to bed. It was mildly disappointing, as a date of that caliber should have ended in sex and I wasn't quite ready to say goodnight to Allen.

I was woken up Saturday morning by a text from Alma. -{{ Allen's lying to you. }}-

The abruptness of the message confused me severely, and I had to reread it several times to make sure that I was seeing it right. If I was being totally honest with myself, I knew that at least half of the things Allen told me were lies in some way. And that was something we had discussed in front of his friends before; they all knew that the nature of my job required him to lie to me. So why did Alma suddenly feel the need to call him on one of his lies? I was also at a loss as to _which_ lie he could possibly be referring to. -{{ What are you talking about? }}-

I set my phone down so that I could get dressed while I waited for the vampire to reply, but instead of receiving another message, my cell phone rang. I didn't have to look at the display to know that it was Alma. "Hello?"

He jumped straight into it without returning my greeting. "Allen's told you that he doesn't mind if you spend Christmas with your family instead of him, right?"

The question was even weirder than his text. Allen had indeed told me several times that he was ok with us not spending the holiday together; he said that he knew how important it was for me to spend that time with my brother and he didn't want to get in the way of that. He had sounded so sincere every time he said it.

I had no clue what Alma was getting at with the question. I knew that he liked to interfere with my relationship, but this didn't seem like it was him messing with me. "Yeah, but what does that have to do with-?"

Alma impatiently cut me off. "Look, Christmas Day is Allen's birthday."

That certainly answered the questions I'd had earlier. It was definitely not what I was expecting to hear though, and I almost dropped my phone. "What?! Why wouldn't he have told me that?"

I could tell from the way Alma sighed that he was incredibly serious about what he was going to say next. "Because it's not his actual birthdate, it's the date he was adopted. He's been touchy about it ever since his father died."

That actually made a lot of sense. Allen was 'touchy' about everything concerning his adoptive father; a day that meaningful would be no exception. It certainly explained why he was ok with me spending the day with Komui instead of him. But there was something else that was bothering me about it. "Why are you telling me this, Alma? Isn't this the kind of thing that you'd normally tell me in front of him?"

There were several seconds of silence on the other end of the line before Alma got worked up again. "You're actually planning on becoming his wife, right? You're not just stringing him along?"

The question pissed me off a little. "I'm insulted that you would even ask such a thing. Of course I'm planning on marrying Allen. Don't change the subject."

Alma sighed. "I'm not changing the subject. As Allen's future wife, you need to help him through this. Don't let him spend another Christmas alone."

Before I could even think of a response to that, Alma hung up.

As I stared blankly at my phone and tried to collect my thoughts, a text from Allen popped up. -{{ Hey. Is it safe to come over today or is your brother still on the warpath? }}-

.x.x.x.x.x.

~Five Years Earlier~

I woke up feeling simultaneously groggy and better than I'd felt in years. All of the pain from the car accident was gone. And not in the high strength painkiller kind of way. There was a new dull ache in my neck, but the burning sensation in my left arm and the throbbing in my face were both gone. I brought my right hand to my cheek to try to determine what was going on, but instead of bandages, what I felt was a fully healed scar.

I immediately panicked. This wasn't the day after Uncle Neah had taken me home from the hospital. I had been out for long enough that my injuries had completely healed. And that thought was rather terrifying when I vividly remembered the doctors saying that it was going to take at least six months for that to happen.

My eyes flew open as I pushed myself into a seated position, but as soon as the light from the open window hit me, I groaned and collapsed backwards, clamping my eyes shut and burying myself deeper under the blankets. The sunlight burned. It physically hurt where the light from the sun had touched my skin. I may not have been in the most coherent state, but I knew exactly what that meant.

I was still in the back bedroom of Uncle Neah's condo. It hadn't been six months since he'd brought me here, it had only been a couple of days. The ache in my neck was residual pain from the bite that had turned me. I was a vampire.

Before I could really process that fact, I heard someone come running into the room. If I believed what my newly heightened senses were telling me, the man in the room with me was an incredibly old and powerful vampire. But that wasn't a reason to be afraid. Whoever he was, his scent was comforting and soothing; it felt like I knew it, but I had just never smelled it that deeply when I was human. I knew the vampire in my room.

The man immediately hurried to the window and closed the curtains, blocking out the poisonous sun. Then he sat in a chair beside the bed and tenderly brushed a lock of hair out of my face. I knew exactly who he was the moment he spoke. "Sorry about that. I left the blinds open last night, but I forgot to close them when the sun rose. I hope my carelessness didn't cause you too much pain, Allen."

Uncle Neah sighed and absently stroked my scarred cheek. He continued to talk to me in that soothing way, clearly thinking that I was still unconscious. I lay there and let him babble while I tried to get a grip on everything that had happened in the last minute. Honestly, it was far more difficult to process the fact that _he_ was a vampire than it was to adjust to the idea that I was no longer human.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Uncle Neah sighed heavily and traced a finger along the scar on my face. "I hope you don't blame me for turning you."

The barely audible comment clearly wasn't meant for me to hear, but I caught it. And I could no longer pretend to be asleep after hearing that. "Why would I do that?"

Rather than responding to my question, Uncle Neah just stared down at me, confusion written all over his face. "How long have you been awake?"

"Since just before you came into the room."

"Huh. By my calculations, you should have been out for a couple more days." The serious look on his face faded as he laughed in embarrassment. "Then again, it's been quite a long time since I last turned someone, so I probably just miscounted."

When his laughter faded, he smiled awkwardly at me. "How are you feeling?"

That was a very complicated question given everything that had happened to me in the last few weeks. "Confused. If you're a vampire, then how was Mana-?" I couldn't finish the question; it hurt so much just to say his name.

Uncle Neah sighed and returned to stroking my cheek. "He was a vampire too. But that wasn't what I meant. How are you doing with having just woken up as a vampire?"

The question made me shrug. "I don't know. I guess I'm fine with it. I just don't understand what happened."

"When I brought you here from the hospital-"

When I realized where he was going, I was quick to cut him off. "No, not that. I understand how turning works. I just don't get how you can be vampires. Why didn't Mana ever tell me? Why didn't you? Was I-?"

"Allen, calm down." Neah sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. I know you want answers, but now is not the time for that. You're a newborn vampire. There are lots of things that you need to learn before you can handle hearing the truth, ok?"

.x.x.

I finally got my answers five days later.

Uncle Neah had finally deemed me adjusted enough to allow me to leave my room, but I still couldn't leave the apartment. I was sitting on a stool in the kitchen, enjoying the relative freedom that came from the change in scenery. He was standing across the island from me, pouring blood into a glass.

This was an exercise that I truly hated. Uncle Neah was trying to help me figure out which blood types I liked, and while that was a great idea in theory, it didn't work so well in practice. I hadn't been a vampire for that long, and while I may have accepted that I now had to drink blood to survive, it took a lot of self-control to not immediately pounce on the blood in the room when that smell hit me. But the biggest problem was that Uncle Neah didn't believe that I couldn't taste any difference in the bloods he was offering to me. He also didn't believe that I could taste the chemicals that were used to preserve the blood. The whole thing made for a rather frustrating experience.

When Uncle Neah handed me the latest glass, everything suddenly went black. There was a surreal out of body experience, and when I blinked, I was back in the kitchen, but everything was now in black and white. I began to panic, but that was when I noticed a very familiar man in the room.

I was frozen in place with shock as I stared at Mana. I knew he was dead, but there he was, right in front of me, looking just like he had the last time I had seen him. I wanted to run over and embrace him, but I found that I couldn't move. He was clearly a hallucination and that meant that I couldn't interact with him.

And as I watched him walk towards the kitchen door, that's when my body moved on its own, grabbing his arm and forcing him to turn around and face me. "You can't just walk away, Mana. We have to talk about this."

My lips had moved, but I wasn't the one who had spoken. That voice was Uncle Neah's. Whatever it was that was going on, I was somehow seeing it from Uncle Neah's perspective.

Mana scowled fiercely at me/him. "We _have_ talked about this! My answer is still no! I'm not going to tell him and that's final!"

"And I'm telling you that he'll be fine with it!" Neah met Mana's angry tone with anger of his own, but then he sighed and let go. "Things have changed in the last fifty years. Allen has vampire friends. He's not going to care that you're not human. He loves you too much."

I wanted to react to the fact that they were talking about me, but I couldn't; I was stuck watching the scene play out.

"It's still not a risk I'm willing to take." Mana crossed his arms and turned his back on his brother.

Uncle Neah sighed and shook his head. "You do realize that it's not normal for kids his age to skip out on social activities at school to spend time with their fathers, right?"

Mana looked severely offended by the fact that Neah had implied that there was something wrong with me. "So? Allen's already told me that there's nothing going on at school this weekend. He's not missing anything by going with me."

"He lied to you. There's a dance on Saturday."

Mana was quick to counter with, "Allen probably just doesn't want to go because he doesn't have a date."

"He has a girlfriend." The retort gave Mana a moment of pause, and Neah used the opportunity to talk more. "And that just proves my point. He'd rather spend time with you than with her. I'd be willing to bet that not only will he have no problems with you being a vampire, but he'll actually ask you to turn him."

"Neah, stop. Even if he did somehow manage to accept me as a vampire, there's no way he'd actually want to become one himself. So stop with the optimism. You're worse than he is."

The comparison made Neah snort in derision. "Allen is the most hopeless optimist I've ever met. And I won't stop. He's eighteen. You're going to lose him in a few months whether you tell him or not. Even if it hurts him, you're going to have to do it."

That was when I finally realized what was really going on. I was seeing something that had already happened. I remembered hearing Uncle Neah say that before. On the day before the car accident.

As if confirming my suspicions, I watched myself walk into the kitchen. I vividly remembered what I was thinking in that moment, having taken Uncle Neah's last comment out of context. It was very different from what I was thinking right now, having heard the whole conversation.

Everything suddenly went black again. And when I opened my eyes, I was back in the world of color, only instead of sitting on my stool, I was lying on the kitchen floor. I knew I was back in reality.

When I noticed Uncle Neah in my personal space, hovering over me with an incredibly worried look on his face, I was so startled that I nearly shrieked. Instead, that look reminded me of what I'd just seen, and I started sobbing. "I thought you didn't like me. But you were-... you were on my side the whole time. All those times I overheard you two fighting... You weren't trying to convince Mana to get rid of me, you were trying to convince him to turn me."

My babbling was cut off by a tight hug. "I was. Tell me, what exactly did you see, Allen?"

When I told him that I had seen the fight he and Mana had had the day before the accident, Uncle Neah stiffened. His reaction scared me in my emotionally distraught state, but I felt a lot better once he had explained what had happened and why I had seen what I'd seen. Even though he was gone, I felt much closer to Mana now that I knew that I had inherited his vampire power.

Uncle Neah helped me to my feet and guided me to a chair. He knelt in front of me so that we were at the same eye level, placed his hands on my knees, and fixed me with a very serious expression. "Look, I know you're probably not going to take this well, but you're not the first kid my brother adopted."

He paused to let me react, but I was too confused to interrupt. Part of me had always known that Mana had had kids before me, but I didn't understand what this had to do with their fight about turning me.

When I didn't say anything, Neah squeezed my knee comfortingly and continued to talk. "Mana took in quite a few children over the centuries he was alive. He had a hard time with being a vampire and raising stray human children gave meaning to his life. But it never worked out. It always went the same way: after a few years together, he'd finally trust them with the fact that he was a vampire, they would freak out and reject him, and then he would never see them again. Losing the children he had cared so deeply for really weighed on him and he never coped well with it. It reached the point where he gave up being honest with them because he couldn't stand the rejection.

"And then you came along. I don't know where he found you, but you were different from the other kids. Special somehow. I've never seen him connect with someone like he did with you. The bond you two had... it's probably stronger than the bond he and I had. I knew from the first time I saw you two together that you were the one. You were the one who wouldn't break his heart. I tried to convince him of that. I did everything I could think of to convince him that you wouldn't reject him. Even now, I can see it in your eyes: you would have let him turn you." Neah sighed. "But he wouldn't listen. He was too hurt by the past. Too scared that he'd lose you. And that was always his greatest fear."

.x.x.x.x.x.

~Present Day~

I didn't exactly believe Lenalee when she'd said that she'd calmed her brother down, but I went over to her apartment anyway. Logically, I knew there was no reason to be scared of Komui, but that did little to make me feel better after our interaction the night before.

When Lenalee answered the door, I greeted her with a kiss, but when I pulled away, she scowled and smacked me upside the head. I blinked stupidly at her; it was weird for Lenalee to be mad at me. "What was _that_ for?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorway. "I talked to Alma today."

That explained why she was mad at me, but it didn't explain what she was mad at me _for_. "And?"

Lenalee sighed heavily and shook her head at me. "Why'd you lie about Christmas?"

"Don't be like that, Lena. I just prefer to spend the day alone, that's all. It's got nothing to do with you-"

She cut me off by smacking me again. "I'm going to be your _wife_ , Allen. It has _everything_ to do with me."

Her body language turned gentle after that, and she pulled me into a hug. "I want to spend your birthday with you. Just like I hope you want to spend mine with me. I can't let you be alone on such a special day." She pulled away from the hug and narrowed her eyes at me. "Now, you are going to spend Christmas with me and my brother, and that's final."

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

Update 2/1/18: Sorry, life's been a little crazy lately, and I wasn't able to get Chapter 34 finished in time to post it today. It'll be up in two weeks on 2/15.


	34. New Year's Eve

A/N: Sorry this is a little late. Yesterday got kinda crazy and I didn't have the chance to get online to post things. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! They keep me motivated. :)

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After a rocky few days of dealing with her overprotective brother, his irrational problems with her relationship, and the holiday crowds at Bella Ragazza, all Lenalee wanted was to enjoy a nice and quiet Christmas Eve date with Allen. They had planned it well before Alma had spilled the beans about Allen's issues with his birthday, but Lenalee had decided that they were still going to do it; after all, it may have been a bit cliché, but she could think of nothing more romantic than going ice skating with her fiancé on Christmas Eve.

But of course, Komui had to throw a wrench into that plan too.

Lenalee tried to put her foot down and stop him from joining them, but a quick, whispered conversation with Allen, however, had her realizing that it really was best to let Komui tag along; it was preferable to have the man with them so that they could know where he was at all times, rather than risk having him show up out of nowhere and cause a scene, which he would undoubtedly do if they were to leave him behind.

Ice skating with Allen was still fun and romantic, but it was significantly less so with her brother following them around the rink. Lenalee was beyond frustrated at Komui for tagging along, but Allen didn't appear to be bothered and Komui was actually keeping his distance. He was letting Allen hold her hand and not physically trying to put space between them, so she could only be thankful that he wasn't acting like his usual psychotic self.

She did her best to ignore her brother, but that only went so far when he was vocally second guessing every choice Allen made. According to Komui, nothing the vampire did was good enough her. He should have dropped her off at the front door instead of parking and walking in together. He should have bought her a larger hot chocolate when she got cold. Lenalee set Komui straight each and every time he complained, but he didn't listen to her.

Allen let him complain; the comments bothered him, but he knew without a doubt that Lenalee didn't feel the same way her brother did, so they weren't an issue. Until the man started nitpicking his choice of restaurant. "Is this really the kind of place you take my sister on a date? It's so cheap and corny."

Allen sighed heavily and fixed Komui with an incredibly serious stare, finally letting his frustration with the man seep into his expression. "No. It's not. I had reservations for us at Piccolo. I had to cancel them when you decided to tag along."

Komui merely snickered at the name Allen had dropped. "Really? That's the lie you're going with? You should have picked a restaurant that's less obviously out of your price range." Changing the subject, he gestured at the cheap plastic menu in his hands. "And isn't it a little racist to be going out for Chinese food?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Allen tried to summon his patience and not lash out at his fiancée's brother. He really hated being called a liar when he wasn't lying. "First of all, you know as well as I do that Lenalee loves Chinese food, so don't act like I'm insulting you for bringing her here. And second, _she's_ the one who wanted to go to Piccolo."

"Do you really expect-?"

Having caught the look on Allen's face and realized that he was not as calm as he had been acting all afternoon, Lenalee had finally had enough of her brother ruining her date. "Alright Komui, that's enough. Either shut up or go home. I will not stand for you making a scene in the middle of a crowded restaurant. Got it?"

Unused to hearing his little sister talk to him like that, Komui clamped his mouth shut and focused on the menu in his hands. In his mind, he blamed the vampire for Lenalee's rude behavior - his darling little sister never would have talked to him like that before _he_ came along and corrupted her. But the last thing he wanted was to upset her further, so he kept his silence.

The table was quiet after that. Allen was incredibly uncomfortable with the confrontation between Lenalee and Komui and wanted to stay out of their family drama. Lenalee, meanwhile, was shooting annoyed glances at her brother to make sure that he was actually behaving himself.

After the waiter came and took their order, some of that tension faded, and Lenalee turned her focus back on Allen and the comment he'd made earlier. She nudged Allen's shin with her foot to get his attention. "Piccolo? Really?"

Allen merely shrugged in response to her disbelief. "I was going to take you there before the show on Friday, but..." He gestured with his head towards Komui, even though he knew that Lenalee knew exactly what had had happened to change his plans. "We'll have to go some other time now."

Lenalee could only blink stupidly at him. "Yeah, but... How'd you even get reservations?"

The question earned her a dark chuckle. "I'd have thought that by now you'd have learned not to ask that."

Lenalee immediately blushed. Fortunately, their food arrived then and saved her from any further embarrassment.

.x.x.

When dinner was over, they returned to Lenalee's apartment for what Allen was told was a Lee family Christmas tradition. They were going to stay up late watching Christmas movies while they decorated the tree.

While it was possible that the siblings always decorated their tree on Christmas Eve, Allen doubted that that was truly the case. According to Lenalee, all of their Christmas decorations were in storage back in the city they'd grown up in and were therefore inaccessible, and Allen couldn't tell if that was the truth or if it was a lie for convincing him to bring over the box of ornaments that he and Mana had used to decorate his childhood trees. Knowing him as well as she did, Lenalee would have known that that was the kind of thing he'd have been unable to throw out after Mana's death, and it was entirely possible that she was making up the story about their decorations as a way to force him into confronting the memories and healing.

But when he asked her directly about it, she merely smirked and said, "Why can't it be both?"

It was a happy time for Allen, sharing the stories behind the more sentimental ornaments as he and Lenalee put them up. Reminiscing about his Christmases with Mana was much more pleasant than he expected it to be. Though that was probably because he knew that Lenalee genuinely wanted to hear his stories; she wasn't asking to be polite. So he didn't hold back when he shared his memories, even going so far as to tell her about his very first Christmas with Mana.

As much as he disliked Allen for being his sister's fiancé, Komui couldn't help but care for the vampire while listening to him tell his stories, so he chose to ignore the young couple and focus on watching the movie. Plus, it had been a long time since he'd seen Lenalee smile that happily and laugh that much; he may have hated Allen, but he couldn't deny that his sister truly loved that boy. He could give her this moment of happiness. Though watching them giggle and kiss under the mistletoe was a little hard to handle.

When they finished with the tree, Allen pushed the coffee table out of the way while Lenalee fetched all of the blankets from her bedroom. They laid them out on the floor in front of the TV and cuddled up together to watch the next movie, with Komui pointedly ignoring them from his spot on the couch. They watched movie after movie until three in the morning, when Lenalee finally fell asleep.

.x.x.

Moving carefully so as to not wake Lenalee up, I disentangled myself from her arms and headed to the kitchen. I loved cuddling with her like that, but being that close to a human for that long was hard on my vampire nature; the scent of her blood was really starting to get to me. Fortunately, Lenalee was perfectly fine with me keeping blood in her fridge, so I didn't have to go far to quench my thirst.

After getting down a glass, I turned around to find that Komui had followed me into the kitchen. The man didn't say anything, he just stared at me looking confused, so I ignored him in favor of finishing fixing my drink. If I was going to have a solo encounter with Komui, I needed all the blood I could get.

It wasn't until I had drained the last drop of blood from my glass that Komui snapped out of his stupor. "I don't understand. You're a vampire with a human girlfriend. Why are you drinking processed blood?"

I shook my head, confused by the unexpected question. "I don't feed off your sister, sir, if that's what you're asking."

Komui didn't look convinced, and having already experienced the man's overprotective side, I hurried to explain it a different way. "Lenalee is not just my girlfriend, she's my fiancée; I am going to marry her, and then I'm going to turn her. Drinking her blood does not fit with that." As an afterthought, I tacked on, "Besides, I know what she went through as a kid. I'm not going to bite her unless she gives me permission to do so."

After blinking at me for a moment, Komui found his voice again. "She told you about that?"

"Yes." It was a lie, but it made much more sense to let Komui think that Lenalee had told me than it did to try to explain my power to him. "And I take it very seriously. I have no intention of hurting your sister. We've been through a lot together to get to where we are now. I know she's told you what I do for a living, and I know that scares you. But it shouldn't. Lenalee is safe with me. I'm not going to let anything happen to her."

Komui stared suspiciously at me for an uncomfortably long time before a look of comprehension crossed his face. "Oh. You're a cop."

Time seemed to stop with those words. Panic bubbled to the surface, but I managed to keep it inside. Getting pegged as an undercover agent was the last thing I expected to happen in that moment. Masking my true feelings, I flashed a clueless smile at Komui, the one that convinced even the most skeptical gamblers that I couldn't be cheating because I didn't even know what cheating was. "What are you talking about?"

He seemed to believe that I was sincere, but after a moment of internal debate, he pressed on anyway. "You're full of contradictions. But if you're a cop then it all makes sense." He suddenly smirked evilly at me. "I wonder what Lenalee would think if she found out..."

I glared fiercely at his attempt to blackmail me. " _ **If**_ I were a cop, and _**if**_ such a thing were to come out, they'd kill _**Lenalee**_. So don't even think about going there. Got it?"

.x.x.

Christmas Morning - well, by the time I woke up it was more like "Christmas Afternoon" - was great. We all laughed and enjoyed ourselves as we swapped gifts. And to my surprise, Komui was actually being nice to Allen. He didn't say a single word about the quality of the presents Allen gave me, and he never once complained about the fact that the vampire was too close to me.

At first, I thought it was because of the holiday, that my brother was simply being nice because it was Allen's birthday. But as the day wore on, I realized that that wasn't right; something else was going on. There was an actual reason for why Komui was no longer giving Allen a hard time.

By dinner time, it was really bothering me, so when I found myself alone with my brother, I immediately confronted him about his change in behavior.

Komui sighed and stared down at the carrots he was chopping. "We talked after you fell asleep last night. It pains me to say this, but Allen truly has your best interests at heart. I still don't like him, and I still don't like that you're dating, but that is something I have to respect. If marrying him is what you really want to do, then I'm going to have to be ok with that."

I stared at him in complete and utter disbelief. I never thought the day would come when my overprotective brother would actually give a boy permission to date me, but that was apparently what had happened. And it made me love Allen even more.

.x.x.

For Allen, New Year's Eve was basically the same as it always was back before he met Lenalee. The party at Hevlaska's bar wasn't exactly the hottest party in town, but it was a great place to ring in the New Year with his friends. It had been their tradition for several years now. There was only one thing different this year. This year he was finally going to have someone to kiss at midnight.

Unfortunately, he made the mistake of saying that in front of Alma and Lavi. Which meant spending a good chunk of the evening with his friends teasing him about his indifference to the beautiful women around him.

The whole thing just made Lenalee laugh. Listening to the others joke around was a good distraction from her feelings of apprehension towards the coming year. She needed the night to be about fun and laughter and not about the changes that were coming to her life. Tonight was a celebration and not the time for dwelling about the upcoming semester or becoming a vampire.

The boys made that easy. Lavi was constantly striking out with the women around them, and Krory and Kanda kept the conversation away from her wedding plans. But it was when Alma announced his plans to kiss Kanda at midnight that Lenalee truly stopped thinking about her stressors.

Allen grabbed Alma's wrist and tried to make him see reason. "Have you thought this through? He's going to hurt you, breaking something in the process, and then we're all going to be in trouble."

Alma rolled his eyes and pulled out of Allen's grasp. "So? We've got a lawyer. He can get us out of anything."

Overhearing the comment, Krory snorted derisively from his chair. "I haven't argued a case in nearly a century; if you're going to cause trouble, you're on your own."

While Allen finished convincing Alma to not make a scene, Lenalee sat down beside Krory. She was immensely curious about what she'd just heard; the older vampire was even more secretive about his private life than the rest of the boys were, and she wanted to know more. "You're a lawyer? What kind of law do you practice?"

After casting a brief uncertain glance at Allen, Krory decided that so long as he left out the part involving his history with the Noah, it was safe to answer Lenalee's questions. "Well, for the past few decades, I've been working for a firm that specializes in human-vampire relations. We help businesses with the logistics of having both human and vampire employees. That's actually how I met Allen. I ran into him while I was doing some consulting for his high school."

Lenalee briefly blinked at the statement, unsure of why a high school would need a vampire relations lawyer. "Because of Alma?"

The purple haired vampire snapped his head in their direction the second he heard his name, and that made Krory laugh. "Yes. I was helping them figure out whether or not it was legal for him to attend school there. Allen was one of the students we interviewed as part of that process. As a human raised by a vampire, his opinions were invaluable. It was quite a shock when Alma told us afterwards that Allen didn't know his father was a vampire." He laughed again. "Anyway, that meeting stuck with me, and when I met Allen again after he'd been turned, we became friends."

Lenalee smiled. "What about before that? You used to try cases?"

Krory sighed and frowned at the beer bottle in his hands. "That was a long time ago. I used to be a prosecutor for criminal cases, but after my fiancée died, I just couldn't do that kind of work anymore."

This time Lenalee caught the look Allen and Krory shared, and she knew _exactly_ what it meant. Normally, she wouldn't have minded being left in the dark where _they_ were concerned, but her curiosity was too strong. "If you tried criminal cases, does that mean that you dealt with the Noah?"

Before either of the vampires could reply, Lavi interjected, having had enough of their attempts at subtly. "We've all got connections to the Noah, Lena-lady. That's not a thread you want to pull at."

Heeding his advice, she let the subject drop, and the conversation turned to other, less serious, things.

The truth was that there was a time when Arystar Krory was the go-to prosecutor for cases related to the Noah family. But then he met Eliade. It was love at first sight for both vampires, but their bliss ended prematurely, when Eliade died during the course of her work for the Noah family. After her death, the truth of what she did for a living came out, and Krory had a nervous breakdown. Learning that the love of his life had been a part of the organization that he was working to take down completely shattered his confidence. He quit prosecuting and changed specialties to a mundane field. Krory did his best to move on with his life, but it wasn't until recently that he truly began to recover.

Cross had been trying to bring Krory on board with the FBI's investigation into the Noah family ever since he quit prosecuting. When he had finally had enough of the redhead's badgering, Krory went down to his office to tell the other vampire 'no' to his face, hoping that he'd finally get the message. But instead, Krory had bumped into Allen in the hallway, and remembering him from their earlier meeting at the high school, he had to stop and chat with the other about the fact that he was now a vampire. Cross had seen them talking together and the next thing Krory knew, he was part of the team. He didn't really know how it happened, but he did know that his perspective on the subject had changed drastically when he learned that they were getting ready to send Allen undercover. That kid was about to embark on an incredibly dangerous mission and he needed all the help he could get.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

A/N #2: The next chapter will be up in three weeks (on 3/08) instead of the usual two weeks. Hopefully. There's a lot of stuff going on in my life the next few weeks and I don't know whether or not I'm actually going to have the time to write. But I'm aiming to have Chapter 35 done in three weeks.


	35. Spring Semester

A/N: Sorry this is later than promised, I got sick and that put a major dent in my writing time. But here's a longer than usual chapter to make up for it. ;)

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Compared to the previous four months, the final semester of my college career flew by.

For the most part, it was the same as last semester. The subjects of my classes were different, and they were at slightly different times, but I still did all of the same things I usually did: studying, self-defense lessons, dates with Allen, and waitressing at Bella Ragazza. In so many ways, it was just the same old routine.

There were, however, some rather major changes.

Allen and I had settled on a date that satisfied both us and the Noah, which meant that any free time I got was spent planning my wedding. Given everything that had happened prior to our engagement and everything else that was going on in our lives, I would have been perfectly fine with getting married at city hall, but Allen insisted that he wanted to give me my dream wedding, so I found myself pouring through websites and magazines, trying to figure out what that was. Growing up with such an overprotective older brother, my wedding fantasy was simply "to have a wedding", so I only knew that I wanted to wear a white dress and have Komui walk me down the aisle. I didn't even have any of my bridesmaids picked out, much less know what kind of flowers I wanted or where I wanted to have the ceremony.

To add to that stress, when the holiday season was over, Sherril pulled strings at the restaurant and got me assigned to their private room permanently. I now waited exclusively on the Noah family, except on Friday nights, when the restaurant was too busy to spare me. Apparently, now that I was officially "part of the family", they wanted my full attention while I was working.

And as if that weren't weird enough, they started asking my opinion on the things they were discussing. It didn't happen very often, only once or twice a week, and I couldn't decide if it was flattering, disturbing, or if they were somehow testing me. It made a little more sense once Allen explained that they were asking for a _human_ perspective, but the whole thing was still beyond strange.

But what was by far the hardest change in my schedule was my self-defense classes. Based on everything Allen and our friends had said about Kanda, it shouldn't have been at all surprising that he began to push me harder the closer the date of my wedding got. I was being pushed to my absolute limit at every lesson, and it was all because my teacher didn't like vampires. Kanda was doing everything that he could to simultaneously prepare me for my upcoming turning and convince me to back out of my engagement.

In the midst of all that chaos, there were a few things that stood out.

I did finally get to eat at Piccolo. Allen, using the connections he had but wouldn't tell me about, was able to get us reservations at the classy French restaurant on Valentine's Day.

Allen brought me a beautiful red rose when he picked me up that day, and while I often felt underdressed compared to him - usually as a result of his steadfast refusal to tell me where we were going - that was the first time that I actually delayed our date so that I could change. He insisted that I looked perfect and didn't need to dress up further, but when his surprise destination turned out to be Piccolo, I was glad that I had changed. I was still not used to eating at high class places, despite the frequency at which Allen took me out, and I knew that if I wouldn't have changed, I would have been far too uncomfortable to enjoy our date.

I had never had authentic French food before, and that excited Allen. He may have been a vampire, but he loved food more than any human I had ever met - Lavi frequently joked that Allen would have gone crazy a long time ago if vampires couldn't eat real food. My fiancé had also spent quite a bit of time in Europe, and he was very enthusiastic about the things he wanted me to try.

I appreciated his knowledge on the subject, and was a little bummed that the menu was actually in French, so I was all for playing up Allen's excitement and letting him order my food for me - which he did in such flawless French that it stunned the waiter. But the fun ended when I found myself staring down at a plate of something rather unappealing as my appetizer. Arranged in a circle on the plate were six shells stuffed with oily green stuff. It looked quite disgusting. "What the hell is this?"

Allen smirked ever so slightly at my reaction. "Escargot."

I could only raise an eyebrow at him. "Really? You thought it would be a good idea to make me eat _snails_ on Valentine's Day?"

He laughed and sipped at his wine. "I'm not going to _'make'_ you eat them. I just thought it would be fun. You wanted to try something different."

When I just continued to stare at him, Allen laughed again. Reaching across the table, he grabbed the utensils and proceeded to show me how to get the snails out of their shells. I did a good job of masking my disgust - up until he popped the one he'd freed into his mouth. He snickered as I tried not to gag. "Don't be like that, Lena. At least try one before you write it off."

Freeing another from its shell, he skewered it on a fork and offered it to me. I didn't even try to take it, causing him to pout at me. It took a lot of willpower to resist that adorable expression that made him look a whole lot younger than he really was. "No."

"Please?" He continued to pout at me. "It's so coated in garlic butter that you're not going to taste anything else."

I nearly caved at that, but then I realized that what he'd just said contradicted what he'd done earlier. "Garlic? But you're a vampire. How can you have eaten _garlic_?"

Allen looked as confused as I felt for a moment, but then he smirked devilishly. "Try it and I'll answer your question."

After an intense internal debate, my curiosity won out. "Ugh. Fine."

I took the fork from him and popped the blob into my mouth, almost swallowing it whole in my hurry to eat it without thinking about what it was I was eating. Allen was snickering the whole time, which meant that my face clearly showed how disgusted I felt. The thing didn't taste bad, I truly only tasted garlic butter like Allen had said, but I was not about to admit to that out loud. Laying the fork down on the plate, I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at Allen. "Ok, I did it. Explain now."

Allen sighed as he took another sip of his wine. "Garlic doesn't repel vampires. The belief that it does is mostly based on superstition - things people believed back before science developed enough to tell them they were wrong. Things like how if eating garlic can repel mosquitoes then it must also repel vampires and other bloodsucking creatures. It's sort of true, but you'd have to eat so much garlic to make it work that you'd die in the process, which kinda defeats the purpose."

He paused to laugh at his own joke. "Anyway, garlic really only affects those vampires that have a strong sense of smell or those who were allergic to it before they were turned. For the rest of us, eating raw garlic can make us sick, but it's definitely not gonna kill us. Besides, it's only human health nuts who actually eat garlic raw, so it's not like there's a risk of being asked to eat it."

Done with his explanation, he cocked an eyebrow at me. "You're a waitress at an Italian restaurant. Did you really not know any of this? There's garlic all over that place."

I frowned into my wine glass, trying to hide my embarrassment. "Well, when you say it like that, I feel really stupid for not putting it together on my own."

Allen smiled charmingly and immediately put me at ease. "Don't worry about it. You don't have to eat the rest of the snails either. I just thought it would be fun to have you try something weird."

After that, he changed the subject to lighter things and I was able to relax completely. I did eat the rest of the escargot; it started out as me feeling bad and not wanting to waste Allen's money, but they tasted better once they weren't being forced on me, and I found that I actually liked eating them.

The best part of dinner was the chocolate cake we had for dessert. Being a French restaurant, Piccolo had an amazing pastry chef on staff. And that cake was undoubtedly the best I'd ever had. Allen laughed at me over my obvious enjoyment of the cake, but when I accused him of making fun of me, he denied it, claiming that he was simply enjoying watching me enjoy my favorite food.

The following Saturday was my twenty-second birthday.

It had taken some doing, but I had managed to convince Allen and our friends that I didn't want a big celebration. We were simply going to hang out at Hevlaska's bar for a few hours after work, and then I was going to spend the rest of the evening on the phone with Komui. It was going to be an understated affair without presents and no one would be singing "Happy Birthday" to me - and that was exactly how I wanted it to go. No unnecessary extra attention and no special treatment.

Given what Alma and Lavi were like, I was thoroughly expecting my wishes to be ignored, so I was prepared for the day to not go as planned. But what I was not prepared for - and never, ever would have been prepared for - was that it was _Road_ who would be the one to make a big fuss out of my birthday. The rest of the Noah were in on it too, and all throughout work that day, they came up with excuse after excuse to celebrate.

After the shock wore off, I deduced that my birthday was simply an excuse for them to slack off and party at work, but that conclusion went out the window rather quickly. It turned out that the fact that this was going to be my last human birthday was actually important to the vampires, and the party was one of their many traditions for welcoming future spouses into the family. And the reminder that I was going to be a vampire before my next birthday only served to make me more uncomfortable with the whole situation.

Allen apologized for not warning me about their plans, but I understood that his hands were tied; he was still trying to earn his rightful place in the inner circle and couldn't risk pissing them off now that he was so close.

Fortunately for my sanity, the rest of my evening did go exactly as planned, and it was a nice relaxing time after the unexpected chaos of the day.

Spring break was one of those times when the Noah family canceled business for the week, so Allen and I made plans to take our first trip as a couple. I was both excited and apprehensive about the trip; it almost felt like we were practicing living together before we actually moved my stuff into his apartment.

Overall, our vacation was quite fun. It was rainy, which made sightseeing a little difficult, but it also meant that I didn't have to worry about overexposing Allen to the sun, and that made the weather seem ideal.

The only hiccup in an otherwise perfect vacation came on Wednesday evening.

When we returned to our hotel that night, we discovered that they had been without power for most of the day. It might not have been a big deal, except that Allen had been storing blood in the refrigerator in our room. His whole supply was ruined. And that was a huge problem given that the reason we had returned to the hotel was so that he could get something to drink.

Allen panicked, and it was more than a little terrifying to see him like that outside of his work for the Noah, so I made sure to keep my distance. But he quickly collected himself. He gave me a pleasant smile that made it seem like nothing was wrong, but I could see the raw hunger in his eyes and I knew that he was only pretending that everything was ok for my benefit. "Sorry, Lena. There's a bar down the street; it shouldn't take me too long to find someone I can drink from. I'll be back as soon as I can."

I surprised myself when I reached out and grabbed his wrist to stop him from leaving. I knew Allen didn't like taking advantage of drunks, and I was definitely worried about him, but I still couldn't believe that I was even thinking what I was about to suggest. "Or you could stay..."

"But I need to- oh!" The way understanding lit up his face was almost precious, but then it morphed into a torn expression; his desire for blood was clearly at war with his concern for me. "Are you sure?"

"No." I swallowed hard. My throat felt incredibly dry as I tried to explain my thoughts and sound stronger than I felt. "But I know you're playing brave, Allen. You're not going to make it to the bar. And I don't want to find out what happens if you don't. Your needs far outweigh my childish fears right now. So I give you permission. Go ahead and-"

Allen's fangs were in my wrist before I finished talking. I shrieked, more out of surprise than pain - I had expected it to take longer to convince him to bite me - but he didn't stop. Instead, we stood awkwardly in front of the open door of our hotel room while Allen began to drink the blood seeping from the holes he had punctured in my wrist.

Having not thought this all the way through, I could only stand there frozen in fear, not wanting to watch but unable to tear my eyes away from my fiancé's mouth on my wrist. In many ways, it felt exactly the same as the last time he had fed off me, but then the venom he'd injected into my system hit me. Any pain I'd been feeling vanished, and my whole body went limp as my muscles involuntary relaxed. I collapsed, but Allen was coherent enough to catch me and guide us to the floor.

When he was done, he gave my wrist a final lick to seal up the bite, and then he began apologizing profusely. It made me laugh, but only a little; I was still incredibly tense over what had just happened. "You don't have to do that, Allen. I told you that you could bite me. You didn't hurt me."

He pulled me close to his chest and wrapped his arms around my waist. "That's not what your heartbeat is saying, Lenalee. You don't have to play brave either. If I hurt you then say so."

I shook my head as I buried my face in his neck, seeking comfort in the closeness of our bodies. "I'm just a little scared still, that's all. I wasn't really ready for that. I know you've bitten me before, but that was the first time that it was intentional, and well, that makes me think about when I was a kid and..."

Allen sighed and brushed a hand into my hair. "If it upsets you this much, you should have just let me leave. You didn't have to tell me that I could bite you. I wouldn't have-"

I cut him off with a chaste kiss, pulling away quickly so that I wouldn't risk tasting the lingering blood on his lips. "I know, Allen. But you make so many sacrifices in this relationship to support me and my irrational fears. It was high time that I put my own feelings aside to help you for a change."

Forcing a smile, I tried to make light of the situation. "Besides, the last time you fed off me, you yourself said that you didn't ask permission because you knew I'd say yes regardless of my true feelings. It can't really surprise you that that's exactly what happened this time."

"You've got a point there." He laughed, the tension leaving his body and his smile turning genuine. "However, unlike back then, this was _your_ idea. You've come a long ways in the last four months to be able to be the one to suggest that I bite you."

I blushed and tried to brush off the awkward compliment. "Yeah, well, you're going to have to bite me to turn me, so it was going to happen eventually. Now, let's get going. We don't want to miss our reservations."

Much like last semester, finals week was chaos, though this time around, it was made even worse by the fact that my wedding was less than a month away. I had to drastically cut back my hours at the restaurant just to keep up with everything, which was hard to explain to the Noah, but the hardest part was that I didn't see much of Allen at all during that time. I knew he was respecting my wishes and keeping his distance so that I could focus on studying, but it still made me feel lonely.

Allen did show up at my apartment out of the blue on Sunday night though. I was severely confused as I had canceled our usual date night and I didn't know why he was there. I didn't want to have a fight over me not wanting to go out with him, but he just laughed as he showed me the Chinese takeout he had brought. "I know you're busy, but you still have to eat, right? I won't stay if you don't want me to, but if you've got time for a break, could we at least have dinner together?"

He looked so adorable pleading with me like that that I caved and let him in. "Fine. You've got half an hour."

My reluctance made him laugh. "Wow. A whole half hour for our anniversary dinner. You really know how to party, Lena."

His teasing made me roll my eyes, but there was something he'd said that I didn't understand. "'Anniversary'?"

Allen laughed and made a face. "Yeah, I know it's not a big anniversary, but we should still celebrate it, right?"

That was not the explanation I was looking for. "What anniversary?"

He smiled shyly at me as he finally understood what had confused me. "Our first date was exactly six months ago."

 _Oh_. It was unexpected that he would know that, especially given that I hadn't given any thought towards that kind of milestone in our relationship; I was much more focused on the future of our relationship - namely our upcoming wedding - than on reminiscing about our past together.

Before I could say anything, the embarrassed look was gone and Allen was laughing and smiling again. "Like I said, it's not a big anniversary, so I'm not gonna try to drag you out to celebrate. But we can at least have dinner together, right?"

"Ugh. Why do you have to be so sweet?" I groaned as I let him in.

Needless to say, not only did Allen not leave after dinner, he was still there when I fell asleep that night.

Completing my finals was a huge relief. I was finally done with school. Never again would I have to juggle a full course load with my work schedule and social life. I was free.

I had survived the semester from hell. And it had all led me here. To the night before my wedding. At this time tomorrow, I was going to be married to Allen.

.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.

A/N #2: This is probably going to be the last chapter of this story for a while. I want to make sure the next chunk of plot is done right, and to do that, I feel like I need to take a break from posting so that I'm not rushing through it. I'm very excited for what's coming next, so rest assured that I will continue to write, but given how hectic my life is currently, I feel like I won't be giving it the focus it deserves if I'm trying to keep up with a posting schedule.

Also, if you want to weigh in with details of the wedding, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I hate writing weddings, and I'm sure my sister would appreciate the break from being my sounding board. ;)


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